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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Disasters & Emergencies

Beijing to Oversee Probe into Fujian Shoe Factory Fire That Killed 28

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A fire at the Hui Teng shoe factory in Quanzhou, Fujian province, China, killed 28 people.
  • The State Council's Safety Production Committee will supervise the investigation into the cause and management failures of the blaze.
  • The factory had been cited for two fire hazards days before the incident, and its accounts have been frozen while the owner is detained.

A devastating fire at the Hui Teng shoe factory in Quanzhou, Fujian province, has claimed the lives of 28 people, prompting a high-level investigation by China's State Council.

The State Council's Safety Production Committee has decided to supervise the investigation and handling of this major accident.

— Xinhua News AgencyReporting on the government's response to the fire.

The blaze, which started on the first floor of the five-story reinforced concrete building, rapidly consumed flammable shoe materials. The fire's intensity and the presence of debris in stairwells significantly hampered rescue efforts. Tragically, 26 people were confirmed dead after being trapped on the factory's rooftop, with two others dying from injuries sustained after jumping to escape.

The factory building's stairwell was piled with a large amount of sundries, which seriously hindered rescue work.

— FirefightersDescribing the conditions that complicated rescue operations.

Adding to the tragedy, the factory had been flagged for two fire safety violations just two days prior to the incident: excessive clutter in a first-floor corridor and a fan placed near an electrical distribution box. Despite these warnings, the fire erupted, leading to a swift response from national authorities. President Xi Jinping has ordered a thorough investigation and accountability for the incident.

The factory was found to have two fire hazards: one is that the first-floor corridor was piled with more sundries, and the other is that an electric fan was placed near the distribution box.

— Xin Jing BaoDetailing the specific safety violations identified before the fire.

Local officials, including Quanzhou Mayor Cai Zhansheng, have issued apologies. The factory's responsible person has been detained, and its financial accounts frozen. Hui Teng, established in 2015, was a significant manufacturer, producing approximately 3 million pairs of shoes annually for export to countries including France, the UK, Germany, the US, and Australia, with clients like Slazenger and FILA.

Fully do a good job of personnel search and rescue, post-disaster appeasement and other work, and quickly find out the cause of the accident and seriously pursue accountability.

— Xi JinpingPresident Xi Jinping's instructions following the incident.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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