State media said thirty-eight people were killed and two injured in a fire at a factory in central China on Tuesday, with authorities accusing the workers of illegal welding. The fire broke out Monday afternoon at a factory in Anyang City, Henan Province, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to state media, emergency services first received reports of a fire at 4:22 p.m. (0822 GMT) at Anyang Kaixinda Trading Co., Ltd.
“After receiving the alarm, the municipal fire detachment immediately dispatched forces to the scene,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
He added that the fire was extinguished around 11 p.m. local time.
Footage from the scene shared by CCTV showed thick plumes of black smoke coming from the blaze, with at least two trucks in position to battle the flames.
In addition to the dead, two were sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the People’s Daily said.
Authorities said “criminal suspects” had been taken into custody concerning the fire.
CCTV later reported, citing local officials, that a preliminary investigation found the fire was caused by “electrical welding during which workers violated safety measures”.
According to data provider Tianyancha, Anyang Kaixinda Trading Co. is a wholesaler specializing in machinery, building materials, non-hazardous chemicals, clothing and firefighting equipment.
Low-security standards
Industrial accidents are common in China due to weak safety standards and corrupt officials responsible for enforcing them.
News of the Anyang City fire follows reports of an explosion at a chemical plant near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, on Monday.
Videos posted on social media showed a fire at the industrial site spewing thick grey smoke into the sky.
Other footage showed nearby buildings littered with shards of glass and frightened residents fleeing the blast.
“Staff have been dispatched to the scene, the fire has been extinguished, and the human toll is not yet known,” Dahebao, an official daily based in neighboring Henan, reported on the Twitter-like platform Weibo, citing authorities.
In June, one person was killed and another injured in an explosion at a Shanghai chemical plant.
A fire at a Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. factory in the outlying district of Jinshan sent thick clouds of smoke over a large industrial area. Three fires broke out in different places, turning the sky black.
And last year, a gas explosion killed 25 people and reduced several buildings to rubble in the central town of Shiyan.
In 2015, a giant explosion in northern Tianjin at a chemical warehouse killed 165 people, in one of the worst industrial accidents in Chinese history.