SMOULDERING fires were still putting up token resistance among the blitzed buildings of Shenzhen's Qingshuihe Warehouse Zone last night, more than two days after the devastating series of explosions killed anywhere between eight and 80 people. The scene of the blast resembled a charred war zone, with a giant crater, twisted metal and blackened trees. Strangely, matchboxes were scattered everywhere. The air was still so thick with toxic fumes it was hard to breathe - despite Shenzhen Government assurances the atmosphere was safe. There was still much to be done. Ambulances patrolled the area offering gas masks and first aid to anyone in need of assistance, and about 6 pm almost 100 Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers appeared wearing gas masks to continue the enormous salvage operation. A worker at a nearby warehouse said a new blaze broke out on Friday night but was quickly brought under control by firefighters. There had been sporadic outbreaks of flames and smoke since, he said. And yet, in their darkest moment, the people of Shenzhen rallied round to help cope with the biggest disaster their city has known. Last night the disaster fund stood at almost 10 million yuan (HK$13.5 million) - one primary school pupil donated 1,000 yuan - while businesses offered help in many forms. The Sunshine Hotel offered 5,000 free sandwiches and soft drinks to rescue workers, and insurance companies have offered to pay the medical expenses of many of the injured in Shenzhen's hospitals. One insurance firm was said to be donating 10,000 yuan to every PSB officer involved in the rescue operation. Disasters bring out the big guns in China, and this was no exception. Guangdong Province Communist Party Secretary-General Xie Fei visited the area yesterday and praised the PSB officers and firemen who took part in the massive rescue operation - the menwho managed to contain the flames before they reached two nearby gas tanks and other areas storing dangerous goods. ''I am very happy about the successful operation which mobilised 4,000 PSB and firemen, who strived to accomplish something for the people,'' Mr Xie said in the clumsy polit-speak that is the trademark of mainland bureaucrats. He was particularly grateful to the military police who erected a concrete wall to protect two other danger areas. ''If these two regions had exploded it would have caused untold damage,'' he said. Mr Xie also visited the injured at Shenzhen's Red Cross Hospital. It was a grim sight. While Mr Xie dispensed sympathy, injured workers interviewed away from official ears told their stories with bewilderment and anger. Some said they did not know the warehouses were used to store dangerous goods like hydrogen dioxide. Others vowed to find a job in another area. One warehouse worker, a Mr Chen, said: ''I was in my office when I heard the first explosion. I ran to see what happened when there was a second explosion, so 30 colleagues and I ran for our lives . . . but we were injured by flying glass.'' His company, the Guo Wei department store, only moved to the warehouse seven days ago. The firm is now planning to move away. Another warehouse worker, 20-year-old Zeng Bing-ming spoke to the Sunday Morning Post from his hospital bed, still deeply shocked. ''I was not aware of any dangerous goods,'' he said, as his brother Bing-yao tried to persuade him to eat porridge. Others had more troubling stories to tell. One woman who survived the blast, Liu Fa-qun, 24, told how she raced back to the scene of the explosion immediately after receiving hospital treatment to try to find her husband, Xia Wai-ting. She still does not know if he is alive. She recounted the chaotic scenes when the explosion ripped through her workplace at the Qing Shui He Labour Services Company. ''I was just finishing lunch when the incredible bang went off,'' she said. ''The explosion shattered panes of glass and bits of it smashed into my forehead. I needed 15 stitches at the hospital. I am very angry at the Shenzhen Government for storing these dangerous goods there. ''Hundreds of people just ran as fast as they could. I don't know how many died. I'm going to find a new job and leave this place, but the first thing to do is find my husband.'' One shopkeeper in the vicinity said he recently started business in the area but knew nothing of the dangerous goods. ''We are afraid people won't come here any more so we are going to move,'' he said, adding there had been serious water shortages for weeks. Another heavyweight making the rounds was Vice-Premier Zou Jiahua, who led a team of officials sent to investigate the explosions. ''Zou braved heavy smoke and small fires to go deep into the site and carefully inspected the disaster, while giving out concrete instructions for relief work,'' said Xinhua (the New China News Agency). One of the nearest residential areas to the warehouse zone is the tiny village of Bu Ji. Some of the small wooden houses had their roofs blown off by the sheer force of the explosions One villager, a Mr Yan, said: ''It was incredible. I had all the windows in my house blown in. I was taking my afternoon nap and I jumped up when I heard the noise. All the bookshelves fell down, and the smell was overpowering. We all had to run for it.'' On Thursday and Friday night many residents slept by the side of the road and under trees away from the warehouse zone, fearing more explosions. By last night most had gone home. It was not clear what arrangements had been made for those who could not. At the Shenzhen Funeral Parlour, thought to be the only one in the city, the manager, a Mr Zhang, said as far as he was aware 12 people had died. ''At present nobody from the dead persons' families have come to claim the corpses,'' he said. One theory to explain this is thought to be the fact that most of the dead are PSB officers and firemen who worked in Shenzhen but who came from other areas. Rescue workers are known to have been killed by the second blast as they rushed to the scene of the first explosion. Even the families who do make the sad journey to the funeral parlour to look for their relatives will not be allowed to identify the bodies until they get permission from emergency command centre, from where the rescue and salvage operation is being co-ordinated. Despite the chaos, the dust and the acrid fumes, the Shenzen Government Health Department made the bold statement that, after assessing potential pollution problems in air, water and food, no serious contamination had been found. At least 35 inspection points have been set up to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, confusion surrounded the precise death toll. A bewildering array of conflicting figures have been reported since the chain of blasts at the Anmao Dangerous Goods Shipping and Storage Co on Thursday afternoon. While undertaker Mr Zhang said 12 people had died, a spokesman for the Shenzhen Government said only eight people had been confirmed dead. One mainland newspaper put the figure as high as 400. ''We still do not have complete information on how many people might be missing,'' the spokesman said by telephone, adding more than 160 people had been injured in the explosion. The semi-official China News Service said on Thursday that as many as 70 people could have been killed, while Xinhua said in a dispatch on Friday that about 80 may have lost their lives. By yesterday, however, the known death total had dropped sharply. ''Eight deaths is now the official figure,'' the Shenzhen official said. ''We expect updated news to be issued soon.'' Xinhua said Shenzhen had made a full recovery. ''Traffic has recovered, the social order is normal and the stock exchange is again as busy as every day,'' the agency reported.