China’s Xi airs workplace safety worry after shoe factory fire kills 28
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The fire on July 9 happened in the coastal city of Quanzhou and killed at least 28.
PHOTOS: REUTERS
- A fire at a shoe factory in Quanzhou killed 28 people, prompting Chinese leader Xi Jinping to express concern about workplace safety.
- The factory's leaders were detained and the company’s accounts frozen after the fire in a workshop with flammable materials.
- Xi and Premier Li Qiang urged stricter safety measures following recent deadly accidents, including coal mine blasts and a fireworks factory explosion.
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BEIJING - Chinese leader Xi Jinping aired worries about repeated deadly workplace accidents after a blaze at a shoe factory killed 28 people.
The fire on July 9 happened in the coastal city of Quanzhou, population 7.7 million, China Central Television reported, adding that two people died at the hospital and 26 others were later confirmed dead.
The incident happened in a workshop where flammable materials were present, CCTV said. The company’s leaders have been detained, the state broadcaster said, and its accounts frozen.
Underscoring the Chinese leadership’s mounting concern about workplace safety issues, Xi said that “since the beginning of this year, multiple major production safety accidents have occurred”, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
“All regions and relevant departments must deeply learn from these lessons” and address problems, he said.
China’s premier, Li Qiang, said officials should “strictly prevent major and serious accidents”, Xinhua added.
While China’s workplaces have gotten safer in recent years, problems persist.
In May, the nation suffered its deadliest coal mine blast since 2009 when some 82 people died in the northern province of Shanxi – an incident that prompted Xi to call for stronger safety measures. Days later five people died in a mine collapse in Yunnan, in the south-west.
The same month, a blast at a fireworks factory in the central city of Changsha killed at least 37 people. BLOOMBERG