"Look at the shards of glass - they were like flying daggers through the air," he says. "I would have lost my neck." Wang Jiaming surveys the damage in his apartment, over a kilometre from the blast site in Tianjin. Credit:Sanghee Liu About a kilometre-and-a-half away from the centre of the blast, the damage Mr Wang's seventh-floor apartment has sustained is testament to the far-reaching trail of damage to this port city in China's north-east. More than 30,000 residents have been affected by varying levels of damage to their homes. At least 114 are dead, hundreds more hospitalised, and more than 60 remain missing. A giant crater has opened up in an industrial zone near the port, car depots and shipping container yards are completely destroyed, and fears of chemical contamination run high after authorities confirmed the presence of more than 3000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals – including 700 tonnes of toxic sodium cyanide – were stored at the site. "How can they allow such a warehouse to be built here?" Mr Wang said. "If it were a natural disaster I could have understood it, but this is a man-made disaster."

Chinese leaders have struggled to overcome an entrenched trust deficit, with many Tianjin residents angry at a perceived lack of transparency. There is much fear that residential areas have been contaminated despite constant reassurance from authorities that air and water quality readings remain safe, and that there is no sign toxic chemicals contained at the blast site have leaked outside the exclusion zone. The outside of Mr Wang's apartment building in the Tianjin Economic and Development Area, showing damage to every home. Credit:Sanghee Liu On Tuesday, the first rainfall since the blast last week saw numerous reports on social media and local news outlets of white foam being washed onto streets, causing widespread concern among locals. Environment officials said tests had not picked up anything abnormal. "So far, the government hasn't clearly explained what substances are in the foams after the rain," Mr Wang said. "Why not just tell people the truth and let them react step by step?" A foam residue on the streets of Tianjin after recent rains is causing public concern. Credit:Caixin

Another man, Zhang Rong, mocked a government news outlet for quoting an expert who said the foam was a "normal occurrence" in Tianjin after rainfall: "I've lived in Tianjin my whole life, more than 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this." Emotions boiled over on Wednesday, when hundreds of residents demanding answers attempted to block cars carrying Tianjin officials from leaving a hotel where regular press conferences have been held, prompting a tense stand-off with police. Tianjin residents evacuated from their homes take part in a rally outside a government press conference. Credit:Reuters Speaking publicly for the first time since the disaster, the mayor of Tianjin, Huang Xingguo, said his city was facing an "unprecedented" crisis. "I feel very sad and remorseful about the huge number of casualties and the loss of property," he told reporters on Wednesday. "As the chief of the Tianjin government, I have an unshirkable responsibility for this."

An aerial picture shows the crater at the blast site in Binhai new district, Tianjin. Credit:Reuters But as Mr Huang left surrounded by a large entourage of security and government officials, it was left to Zong Guoying, the head of Tianjin's Binhai New Area development zone, to address the throng of protesting residents. "First, you must trust the government," he said through a loudspeaker. A mobile phone photo shows foam on the streets of Tianjin after recent rains. Residents have complained that information about the chemicals involved in the blasts is lacking. "We have no homes to return to," came one yelled reply.