IMAGES ON CHINESE television have shown a man they report was rescued today just 50 metres from the epicentre of a blast that killed at least 85 people and injured 700.

The blast devastated the surroundings of the industrial facilities and sparked fears about chemical pollutants in the air. Military chemical weapons experts who had been drafted in to help deal with the disaster discovered the man alive close to the epicentre of the explosion.

The extent of the man’s injuries are unclear at present. It comes as residents around the site of the giant explosion in Tianjin were evacuated over fears of highly-poisonous sodium cyanide.

Armed police were carrying out the evacuation after sodium cyanide was found at the site, the Beijing News said. At a barrier on the edge of the evacuation zone masks were distributed to emergency personnel and police turned back anyone else, as at least 20 fire engines streamed in.

Officials said earlier that specialists from sodium cyanide producers were being sent in to the devastated industrial area where the blasts occurred.

Reports have said there could have been as much as 700 tonnes of the substance — exposure to which can be fatal — at the site.

Soldiers trained in anti-chemical warfare techniques were also deployed.

- With reporting from AFP. 

China blast: Terrifying footage of explosion emerges, but what do we know so far?>

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