A fire at the Huiteng Footwear factory in Jinjiang, China, resulted in at least 28 deaths. Hundreds of rescue workers were deployed to the site, where over 200 people were successfully evacuated.
Key points
- The blaze began around noon local time on Thursday at a facility located in the city of Jinjiang, Fujian province.
- Authorities have detained individuals associated with the factory's ownership and frozen the company's bank accounts.
- President Xi Jinping has called for an exhaustive search and rescue operation and a thorough investigation into the incident.
- The factory building, which housed 237 workers and two visitors, sustained significant damage, with footage showing multiple floors engulfed in smoke.
Why it matters
The incident highlights ongoing industrial safety concerns in China's manufacturing sector, prompting a high-level government response and immediate legal action against the factory's management.