At least 28 dead in China factory fire

A fire that tore through a shoe factory in eastern China on Thursday killed at least 28 people, state media said, with more than 500 fire and rescue personnel racing against time to extinguish the blaze.

Hours after the fire broke out at the Huiteng Shoes factory around noon (0400 GMT), authorities feared people were still trapped inside the building in Jinjiang city, Fujian province.

President Xi Jinping said the fire resulted in “heavy human losses”, with state news agency Xinhua later citing a preliminary toll of 28 dead.

Footage shared by state television CCTV showed firefighters dousing the facade and interior of a large, multi-storey white building with fire hoses, as thick black smoke billowed out of broken windows.

People could be seen taking refuge near the windows and on the roof of the building, while the blaze raged in the lower floors.

CCTV said 500 firefighters and other emergency personnel were on the scene.

“The cause of the accident should be identified as soon as possible and… those responsible must be strictly held accountable,” Xi said, in remarks carried by Xinhua.

The company owner and several others have been detained, Xinhua reported. Authorities have also frozen the company’s accounts.

‘All-out’ efforts

Jinjiang is one of China’s main hubs for shoe production and a global center for athletic footwear manufacturing, according to the state-run Global Times.

City fire chief Du Zhenzhou told state media his personnel struggled to reach the upper levels of the building because stairwells and exits were blocked with shoe materials.

He said adhesives and other raw materials used in making shoes had fuelled the fire.

The blaze was being extinguished, the emergency management ministry said, demanding “all-out” efforts to put it out, search for trapped survivors and treat the injured.

Some people were trapped and “out of contact”, Xinhua said.

A total of 237 workers and two delivery people were at the factory at the time of the blaze, CCTV reported, adding that 213 people had been evacuated, but it was not immediately clear how those figures squared with the death toll.

Xi said there had been “several major industrial safety accidents” in China so far this year.

“All regions and relevant departments must draw profound lessons from these incidents,” he said, adding that they should “implement rigorous and effective safety measures”.

China launched a campaign against fire hazards in high-rise buildings in November, after a huge blaze engulfed several tower blocks in Hong Kong, killing 168 people.

A month later, a fire at a residential building in southern China’s Guangdong province killed 12 people.

In May, a blast at a fireworks factory in central China killed 37 people, marking one of the nation’s deadliest industrial accidents in years.