114 people confirmed killed in Tianjin blasts, 70 remain missing

Air quality is monitored amid suspicions that the warehouse stored dangerous chemicals. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn]

TIANJIN - The death toll from last week's massive blasts in North China's port city of Tianjin has risen to 114 after rescuers retrieved two more bodies in the debris, the municipal publicity department said Monday.

Gong Jiansheng, of Tianjin's publicity department, told reporters that the identities of 54 of the bodies had been confirmed, adding that 70 people remained missing.

Of the deceased, 39 were firefighters and five were policemen. The number of the missing people was previously 95, before 25 bodies were identified. Among the missing are 64 firemen, Gong said.

The civil affairs bureau in the Binhai New Area, where the blasts occurred, has started preparations to recognize those firefighters who died in the line of duty, said Wang Junjie, an official with the bureau.

"It's an arduous job to find out who died battling the blasts via DNA matching, since so many firefighters are still missing," Wang said.

Rescuers have carried out four rounds of comprehensive search through what they called "a maze of containers," and search and rescue efforts are still under way.

"Navigating through the blasts zone is extremely dangerous because of the burning chemicals and twisted containers, which could collapse at any time. We had to make marks in order not to get lost," said Wang Ke, who led a group of chemical specialist soldiers.