Shared Factory Premises Leads to Tragedy
Poisonous gas and smoke killed seven workers at a factory near Shunde, a city in the southern province of Guangzhou. According to eyewitnesses, fire broke at 11.40pm on July 11th, 2001 at the shared factory premises of a furniture company and foam sponge manufacturer in the township of Longjiang. Although firefighters from more than three nearby townships rushed to the scene, the dense smoke and gas from the foam sponge materials hampered their efforts and the fire took three hours to put out. Police have sealed off the 650 square metre site and fire prevention authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze. The owners of both factories have been detained by police pending the investigation.
Central Committee politburo member and secretary of the Guangdong Party Committee Li Zhangchun ordered police and fire authorities to spare no effort in tracking down the cause of the fire and ensuring negligence did not go unpunished. Staff and managers at factories throughout Guangdong province were ordered to carry out fire safety checks and the Shunde fire prevention department began a safety review of all furniture manufacturers in the city. Official figures indicate that there are 1,200 furniture factories in Shunde employing 80,000 people.
(HK: Mingpao 13/07/01)
Poisonous gas and smoke killed seven workers at a factory near Shunde, a city in the southern province of Guangzhou. According to eyewitnesses, fire broke at 11.40pm on July 11th, 2001 at the shared factory premises of a furniture company and foam sponge manufacturer in the township of Longjiang. Although firefighters from more than three nearby townships rushed to the scene, the dense smoke and gas from the foam sponge materials hampered their efforts and the fire took three hours to put out. Police have sealed off the 650 square metre site and fire prevention authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze. The owners of both factories have been detained by police pending the investigation.
Central Committee politburo member and secretary of the Guangdong Party Committee Li Zhangchun ordered police and fire authorities to spare no effort in tracking down the cause of the fire and ensuring negligence did not go unpunished. Staff and managers at factories throughout Guangdong province were ordered to carry out fire safety checks and the Shunde fire prevention department began a safety review of all furniture manufacturers in the city. Official figures indicate that there are 1,200 furniture factories in Shunde employing 80,000 people.
(HK: Mingpao 13/07/01)