iraqis say it blew up in a mostly shi ite area. isis has claimed responsibility for two other deadly bombings near baghdad this past month. breaking news. explosions rocking a warehouse in northeast china killing at least 44 people. many of them firefighters. this disaster unfolding in the port city of tianjin. dozens of firefighters are missing at this hour. the blast at a facility that handles hazardous materials knocked down doors for miles. i want to get the latest on the situation from cnn s will ripley. he is in tianjin, china. reporter: christine, good morning. it has been a very difficult day as the number of dead and injured continues to rise. 44 now confirmed dead.
even where we are standing. there is a lot of fear for the safety of the citizens. 15 million people live here. they cannot safely send in firefighters to look for the 36 missing in addition to the dozen firefighters dead. that number is expected to rise. tell us, will, about the industrial accidents in china. with the rapid economic growth, there have been industrial accidents all too frequently there. reporter: there have. one of the worst years was 2002 when 7,000 chinese miners died in one year. obviously, there have been meetings in the city. the government trying to enforce safety codes for workers. within a matter of days ago, there was a notice that was posted by city leaders. they wanted to talk to these companies dealing in industrial chemicals to tianjin to safely
the top four scrubbed trending issues are talking about tianjin. the government not wanting people to know the true extent of what appears to be a horrific tragedy. that s a very good point, will. we should point out that the rapid rise of the chinese economy and infrastructure there. a big port city. it has also come with risks and with a i guess a safety infrastructure that is not as mature as the citizens would like it to be. the government tries to control that message, don t they? reporter: absolutely. we are seeing that. we saw that when we were reporting outside of the hospital earlier today. we were doing a live report. we were surrounded by a group of people who appeared to be in some cases, family members and friends, but also security personnel videotaping us.
released into air after a massive explosion at a warehouse. it stored hazardous chemicals and gras. trace amounts of cyanide have been detected near the scene. the death toll climbs to 50, including 12 of the 1,000 firefighters who rushed to the scene. the number of injured now tops 700, and more than 70 in the hospital in critical condition this morning. let s bring in china expert jordan chang. thank you so much. tell me about tianjin. it means the richness of heaven. this is important because people are seeing this fire as an omen. they re saying that the gods are angry because if they do this to tean gin, they will do this to china. there s a real sort of knock-on effect in the political system because people are saying this must be the end of the communist party. that s why there s so much censorship of this fire. you know, we have spoken about this in the past.
welcome back to early start. i m christine romans. let s begin with the breaking news. explosions rocking a warehouse in china killing at least 44 people. many of them firefighters. this disaster unfolding in the port city of tianjin. hundreds more injured. many critically. dozens firefighters missing at this hour. these blasts at a facility that handles hazardous materials. knocked outdoor doors and windows for miles. let s bring in cnn s will ripley. reporter: hi, christine. people describe this as an apocalyptic scene. the explosion so huge, many people watched windows in their homes get blown out.