TIANJIN — The Tianjin government will purchase apartments damaged by last week’s blasts if assessments show they should be, a local official said on Aug 19.

The remarks came in response to demands by some residents who refused to return their homes and asked the government to buy them.

The blasts on Aug 12 damaged 17,000 households to varying degrees. Seven residential communities were seriously affected.

Vice-Mayor Zong Guoying said the assessment on the apartments should be conducted by a professional agency and resident representatives should oversee the assessment to ensure transparency.

“When the work is done, we’ll decide on which (apartments) should be torn down, rebuilt or bought back,” Zong said.