Dozens of people died in a fire in a factory in China

A fire at a factory in Anyang on Tuesday killed 38 people and left two others in hospital, Chinese officials said. Local officials said that the fire was brought under control after four hours of efforts.

It was not immediately clear how the fire broke out at the factory, located in an industrial park in central China’s Hunan province. “Suspected criminals” have been detained in connection with the fire incident, officials said. However, he did not give further details.

According to the details on the website, the factory where the fire broke out is owned by Kai Zinda Trading Company Private Limited. It said that the company deals in wholesale of industrial goods, especially chemicals. According to official media, more than 200 workers and more than 60 fire tenders were deployed to control the fire.

“Municipal authorities dispatched fire brigades to the scene immediately after the fire was reported,” China’s state-run CCTV said. “Employees from public security, emergency services, municipal management and electricity supply departments jointly participated in emergency operations and rescue operations and the fire was brought under control in about four hours,” he added.

According to CCTV, apart from the dead, two people are being treated in hospital and are said to be out of danger.

Accidents in industrial plants are common in China, largely due to lax safety standards and corruption among law enforcement officers. In June, an explosion at a chemical factory in Shanghai killed one person and injured another.

A fire at the Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemicals Company factory in Jinshan District cast a pall over the entire industrial area. Last year, a gas explosion in the central city of Xi’an killed 25 people and reduced several buildings to rubble.

In March 2019, an explosion at a chemical factory in Yancheng killed at least 78 people and destroyed hundreds of houses within several kilometers. Earlier in 2015, a massive explosion at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin killed 165 people. It is considered one of China’s worst industrial accidents.