Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Chinese shoe factory fire kills 37
22 Oct 2007 10:28:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates death toll, adds details, separate accident)

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - A fire swept through a shoe factory in southeastern China, killing 37 employees working overtime and injuring another 19, state media said on Monday.

The fire broke out at the unlicensed factory in the suburbs of Putian city, in Fujian province, late on Sunday, the semi-official China News Service said.

The factory, where storage rooms, workshops and dormitories were in the same building, had failed to carry out government orders earlier this year to eliminate fire dangers, the news agency said.

Police have detained the couple who owned the factory and an investigation was under way.

Fujian has been a magnet for young migrant peasant workers from inland provinces as the country's economy took off in the past three decades, with factories of all kinds dotting coastal areas.

Working conditions are poor and wages meagre by Western standards, but the hard manual labour is still attractive for China's vast rural population.

Separately, the death toll from Sunday's explosion at a fireworks factory in the southwestern city of Chongqing rose to 16 from three, the official Xinhua news agency said Monday.

The blast also injured 15 people and left another missing, Xinhua said, citing a local Communist Party official.


AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article       Send comments

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.
Reset map

•  China profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  Brown government disappoints on first test of AIDS commitment
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  Publications Update: a new newsletter from the International HIV/AIDS Alliance
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  Building the effectiveness of HIV prevention in China
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  New International Health Partnership must build on AIDS accountability
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  China floods test efforts to narrow urban-rural divide
IFRC - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Chinese shoe factory fire kills 37

•  China builds 1.5 km dam to protect dinosaur site

•  INTERVIEW-Actual IMF vote change will be tough-S.Africa

•  UN envoy to ask India for tougher line on Myanmar

•  FACTBOX-Protection or profit? Wildlife farming in China

MORE >>

Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Mon Oct 22 10:28:41 2007