CHINA SHOE FACTORY FIRE IN FUJIAN KILLS 2, 26 WORKERS MISSING UNDER BURNING RUBLE

Written by Michael Thervil

CHINA SHOE FACTORY FIRE IN FUJIAN KILLS 2, 26 WORKERS MISSING UNDER BURNING RUBLE |  PHOTO BY ZHENG LIANG / XINHUA VIA AP

[FUJIAN CHINA SHOE FACTORY FIRE] Chinese president Xi Jinping stated that an “an all-out search and rescue effort” must be conducted in order to find 26 Chinese workers that are currently trapped underneath the ruble of a major shoe factory dubbed as the “shoe capital” in the southeast Chinese province of Fujian yesterday that burst into flames releasing highly repressive odors into the air causing eye, nose, and throat irritation amongst the population in the region. President Xi Jinping ordered the immediate arrest of the owners of the shoe factory pending an ongoing investigation into the cause of the fire. It should be noted that the banking accounts of the show factory owners have been frozen along with other assets.

Two workers of the factory were pronounced dead at a local hospital. It was reported that on the first floor a fire started in a workshop and quickly spread to the warehouse of the shoe factory. The blaze burned for roughly 4 hours as the fire department was deployed which consisted of 35 fire trucks and vehicles and 183 firefighters, in total an estimated 500 people banded together to fight the blaze and rescue workers.

The Chinese government has been aggressively evaluating the types of materials that could be used in the construction of buildings and the associated equipment used in the construction of those buildings. China has been in the news lately when it comes to workplace fires and accidents due to the use of antiquated construction and safety practices.