Tianjin residents struggle for normalcy months after chemical blasts

Nearly three months after chemical explosions damaged over 17,000 homes and killed 173 people in the major port city of Tianjin, residents are facing a campaign of intimidation by government officials intent on putting the episode behind them, The New York Times reported. Displaced homeowners – bunking with relatives or renting apartments as they wait for compensation and try to negotiate better settlements – say state compensation of 30% more than what they paid for their homes is inadequate since real estate prices have climbed considerably. Others are recovering from physical and psychological damage, and wondering how to earn a living. “I certainly can’t drive a forklift anymore,” said Liu Guigang, 43, who lost an eye and had vertebrae fractured in the blasts.