Friday’s tragedy is the worst for the air force since a Chinese-built Y-12 aircraft crashed at Haputale, 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of Colombo, in January 2020, killing all four crew members on board.
The blaze erupted at lunchtime in Liaoyang city, about 580 kilometres (360 miles) northeast of the capital Beijing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but the port’s customs office said it likely resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot.
Dazed and dusty but conscious, the man was pulled through a hole in the rubble and put on a stretcher, video posted on Facebook by the Myanmar Fire Services Department showed.
Outside the Sky Villa apartment complex, one of the city’s worst-hit disaster sites, rescue workers stopped and lined up with hands clasped behind their backs to pay their respects.
Applause rang out as Phyu Lay Khaing, 30, was brought out of the Sky Villa Condominium by rescuers and carefully removed from the rubble by stretcher.
The UK pledged £10 million ($12.9 million) in humanitarian aid for Myanmar on Saturday after an earthquake killed more than 1,600 people and caused widespread damage in the war-torn country.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude early afternoon tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar, and was followed minutes later by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock.
Death tolls have varied, with the military saying in an official statement that “21 innocent hostages” were killed by the militants as well as four soldiers in the rescue operation.
The fire had raged in the mountains around the northern city of Ofunato for over a week, killing one person and forcing more than 4,200 residents to flee their homes.
Mwanzo Tv News
