Unpaid wages inspired deadly China arson that killed 14 workers
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Video grab obtained Dec 4, 2012 shows firefighters carrying a victim out following a fire hit an underwear factory in Shantou, Guangdong province, Dec 4, 2012. A fire at an underwear factory in southern China's export-dependent Guangdong province has killed 14 people, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday. -- PHOTO:REUTERS
BEIJING (AP) - A former worker told state media on Wednesday that he set the fire that killed 14 young workers at a Chinese undergarment factory because he was angry about less than S$600 in unpaid wages.
The suspect, Liu Shuangyun, told the Guangdong TV broadcaster in a jailhouse interview that he started the fire "because I couldn't get my salary", which he had been owed since quitting the factory three years ago.
Asked whether he had thought about or regretted the loss of life the fire had caused, Liu said, "I didn't think about these things."
Fourteen people were killed and one was seriously injured in the fire on Tuesday afternoon in Shantou city in Guangdong province, the provincial emergency department said on its microblog.
