30 April China: At least 22 people were killed and three were injured when a fire erupted on Tuesday afternoon at a restaurant in Liaoyang city in China’s Liaoning province. State media agency Xinhua said the fire occurred at about 12:25 PM, though the cause is still unknown.
Images at the site captured gigantic flames billowing from the restaurant’s windows and doors, demonstrating the ferocity of the blaze. President Xi Jinping directed authorities to provide appropriate medical treatment for the injured.
This is the second significant fire this month in China. Last week, on April 9, there was a fire in a Hebei province nursing home in Longhua County that killed 20 elderly patients. There were 39 people inside the building when the fire occurred. Photos at the scene also depicted fires consuming several floors of the building.
Industrial and fire accidents are still appallingly common in China. Inadequate safety measures, exhausted and poorly trained personnel, and inadequate emergency preparedness account significantly for such disasters. Fire drills are the exception, and most restaurants and companies have outmoded equipment and minimal supervision.
China’s cheap production has a high human cost, experts say—workers regularly work long hours for low pay and often in dangerous conditions. Illegally stored chemicals, inadequate fire extinguishing systems, and corruption among local officials merely add to the risks.
The accident took place in Liaoyang, one of China’s rust belt cities—a former industrial hub currently suffering because of economic downturn and out-migration of the population. Dishes such as “hot pot,” on which people cook meat and vegetables over an open flame, are popular in Chinese food culture and could have an extra fire hazard if proper precautions are not heeded.
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