(VOVworld) - Sodium cyanide at the periphery of the Tianjin blast area will mostly be collected and cleared by Monday evening.

The explosion site was cleared up (Photo: Xinhua)

At a press conference on Monday morning, He Shushan, deputy mayor of Tianjin, said the highly toxic chemicals scattered at the edge of the core blast area would mostly be cleaned up before evening. He added that cofferdams will be reinforced to prevent the outflow of contaminated water after it rains. A closed well will be built to store polluted water and prevent it from flowing outside when it rains. Initial estimates put the amount of cyanide at the site at hundreds of tones.