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Firefighters at the Tianjin blast site. [Photo/Xinhua]

Heroes: Tianjin firefighters

"If we don't rush to the scene, who will?" the Guangzhou Daily highlighted a firefighter as saying. A total of 104 firefighters were killed in the Tianjin blast, making the most death toll of firefighters in a public event since the founding of People's Republic of China in 1949.

The heroic deeds of the firefighters touched the country and many stories about them spread widely. A case in point is a firefighter who sent a WeChat message to his colleague before starting his mission to Tanggu, Tianjin: "If I don't come back safely, please take care of my father and treat him like your own family." Many readers expressed their sympathies and prayed for them.