At least 44 deaths and 521 injuries have so far been confirmed after a fire at a warehouse containing dangerous chemicals sparked a series of explosions in Binhai, China.

According to reports monitored on The Guardian, thousands of people have been rendered homeless by the blasts.

Zhang Yong, a Chinese official based in Binhai is quoted as saying that the Communist Party was mobilizing all its available resources in response to the disaster.

He said about 3,000 people had been put up in government-run shelters after being forced from their homes on Wednesday.

“Tonight there will be 6,000 people in those shelters,” he said.

According to reports in the media, armed troops and elite military units trained to handle nuclear, biological and chemical disasters have been deployed to contain the crisis.

Tempers are high as a CNN reporter who attempted to take pictures of the victims was attacked by an irate mob.

By Thursday afternoon, it is expected that at least 1,000 firefighters would be on ground to bring the flames under control around the main disaster zone.

Around 10,000 medical staff are also working round the clock at 10 different hospitals to treat survivors, Zhang Yong said.

An additional four vehicles carrying 214 soldiers trained to deal with nuclear, biological and chemical tragedies have been sent to Tianjin, a community about 160 kilometres from Beijing.

China’s Public Security Minister, Guo Shengkun expressed the government’s sadness at the tragedy, promising that all will be done to prevent future reoccurrence.

“Every possible measure would be taken to prevent further loss of life or injury. Deep lessons must be learned,” Guo said.

Official Chinese reports have blamed the blasts on hazardous chemicals stored in a warehouse owned by a company called Ruihai International Logistics.

An online national database of companies appeared to have been disabled on Thursday afternoon making it impossible to identify the owners of the firm where the explosions took place.