Over 5,800 JLR cars damaged in China blasts

Beijing: Over 5,800 Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) cars were damaged in China`s Tianjin blasts, the company said.

The vehicles came from JLR assembly plants in the Liverpool and arrived in Tianjin after being shipped from Britain, reported Xinhua news agency.

Shares in Indian parent group Tata Motors fell by up to four percent on the Mumbai stock exchange on Friday after the company confirmed the impact on around 5,800 of its vehicles recently shipped to China.

Tata bought the British luxury carmaker JLR in 2008.

"Jaguar Land Rover expresses its condolences to the families and friends of those who lost loved ones in Tianjin blasts," the company said in a statement.

At the time of the explosion, around 5,800 JLR vehicles were stored at various locations in Tianjin.

"However, access to facilities near the site of the explosions remain restricted and so whilst we believe many of these vehicles may have been damaged, we are presently unable to quantify the numbers of units affected," the company said.

Jaguar Land Rover appears to have been the worst hit by the blast as over 5,500 cars worth around $600 million were destroyed.

The deadly blasts in Tianjin city have claimed 116 lives so far while 60 people still missing.