Two massive explosions caused by flammable goods ripped through an industrial area in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin late on Wednesday, killing 17 people and injuring around 400, official Chinese media reported.
President Xi Jinping demanded that authorities quickly extinguish the fire caused by the blasts and "make full effort to rescue and treat the injured and ensure the safety of people and their property", China Central Television (CCTV) said on its official microblog.
CCTV said the blasts erupted in a shipment of explosives at around 11:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT), triggering a blast wave that was felt kilometres (miles) away. The second blast came roughly 30 seconds after the first, state media said.
The official People's Daily newspaper said the death toll was 17 while other state media said three firefighters were among the dead. The official Xinhua news agency said around 400 were hurt.
Video posted on YouTube from what appeared to be an apartment building some distance from the scene showed fire shooting into the night sky from the initial blast when the second, much bigger, explosion rocked the area, sending a huge fireball into the air.