38 people have died after a fire broke out at a company dealing in chemicals and other industrial goods in the city center Chinathe local authorities said.
The fire broke out in Anyang City, central Henan Province, at around 4:30 p.m. Monday, and it took firefighters about three and a half hours to control the fire at the headquarters of Caixinda Trading Company, said the Wenfang local district government. He said.
No details have yet been released on the cause of the fire or the number of employees killed.
Kaixinda’s online listings said it was a wholesaler dealing in a wide range of industrial goods including what were described as specialty chemicals.
CCTV reported: “After receiving the alarm, the municipal fire rescue detachment immediately sent troops to the scene.
“Public security, emergency response, municipal administration and power supply units rushed to the scene at the same time to carry out rescue work and deal with emergency situations,” it added.
Authorities said two “criminal suspects” had been detained in connection with the fire, but provided no further details.
Industrial accidents are common in China due to poor safety standards and corruption among officials charged with enforcing them.
In June, one person was killed and another injured in an explosion at a chemical plant in Shanghai. A fire at the Sinopec Shanghai petrochemical plant in the remote Jinshan district sent thick clouds of smoke over a vast industrial area, with three fires burning in separate locations.
Last year, a gas explosion killed 25 people and reduced several buildings to rubble in the central city of Xi’an.
In March 2019, an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, located 260 kilometers (161 miles) from Shanghai, killed 78 people and destroyed homes within a radius of several kilometers.
Four years ago, a huge explosion in northern Tianjin at a chemical warehouse killed 165 people, one of China’s worst industrial accidents ever.
With AFP, Associated Press and Reuters
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