Liu Huan, 52, from Hebei province, lost touch with his son, Liu Chuntao, 22, who was with a Tianjin fire department in Tianjin, Aug 15.[Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

ANGUISHED RELATIVES

Three days after the blasts, Wang Liying from neighboring Hebei province still heard no news on the fate of her 19-year-old son Yuan Xuxu, a firefighter working for the Tianjin Port Group Co..

Yuan and dozens of his colleagues were among the first to arrive at the site to handle the raging fire prior to the two huge explosions.

The mother made phone calls to her son immediately after learning the blasts, but could not reach him. She then rushed to Tianjin, but only learned that there was no news for any one among his son's 25-member brigade.

Efforts to look for her son at hospitals also was in vain.

On Saturday morning, she joined a group of family members of missing firemen to a hotel where a press conference was held, hoping to get any clue. They failed again.

"I just wish my son could come back alive," Wang told reporters in tears. She said her son earlier planned to go back home to see her in November.

"We want to see our son, no matter he was alive or dead, " said Liu Runwen. His 19-year-old Liu Zhiqiang was a colleague of Yuan.

"His mother cried for a whole day in the hotel and she is not in good health," said Li Fei, a cousin of fireman Liu. "The parents have been to several hospitals and got no news."