The Devastating Tianjin Blast Destroyed Thousands Of Brand New VWs
Rows of burnt out Volkswagen cars are seen near explosion site in Tianjin warehouse on Aug 13 (AFP) #PrayForTianjin pic.twitter.com/5FrbkKl2Ij
— ThaiPBS English News (@ThaipbsEngNews) August 13, 2015
Last night, a massive explosion ripped through the Chinese port city of Tianjin, originating in a warehouse used to store toxic chemicals. Sadly, at least 50 people are known to have died in the blast, with hundreds more injured. Clearly, the human cost of this tragedy is the main concern, but the photographs of row after row of burnt out VWs awaiting shipping have become a vivid depiction of the sheer scale of the blast.
Photos of #Tianjin blast's aftermath: hundreds of cars, buildings incinerated. Via Weibo: pic.twitter.com/DfpH7EeKVy
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) August 12, 2015
According to a local source picked up by Jalopnik, thousands of brand new VWs were consumed in the crash, including:
- 1065 Touaregs
- 114 Golfs
- 391 Beatles
- 84 Ups
- 257 Tiguans
- 39 SportsVans
- 28 Magotans (a locally-built version of the Passat)
This is part of what was on fire. Brand new cars at port in #Tianjin. (h/t Beijing Youth Daily for pic) pic.twitter.com/rRYZG3XJuH
— Matt Simon (@MSimonTV) August 13, 2015
This will naturally result in a huge insurance bill, but VW isn’t the only automaker affected. Renault had a large parking area only 300 metres from the blast point, and reportedly lost 1000 of the 6000 cars parked there.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
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