At least 38 dead in a factory fire in China

At least 38 people have died and two suffered minor injuries after a fire that took place on Monday afternoon in a factory in the Chinese city of Anyang, located in the center of the country.

The CCTV television network has reported that one or more people related to the incident are in police custody, including the manager of the factory, although no further details have been provided at this time.

Local media have echoed that many of the plant's workers would be hired irregularly, and some of them are people over 70 years of age.

President Xi Jinping has called for the causes of the incident to be investigated and for the culprits to assume their responsibility in accordance with the law, according to the state press.

The fire broke out at the facilities of the Kaixinda Trading company in Wenfeng district, Anyang, Henan province, at around 4:22 p.m. local time on Monday (09:22 a.m. Spanish peninsular time).

According to the Chinese media, 63 trucks and some 240 firefighters traveled to the scene and, by 11:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. Spanish peninsular time), the rescue teams had completed the rescue operations.

Reuters reports that the fire would have been caused by electrical welding that did not comply with regulations, although local authorities have not yet confirmed the origin.

The subject has been one of the most commented of the day on Chinese social networks, where videos circulate showing a large flare and a column of black smoke at the scene of the event.

In one of the aerial images, it can be seen that almost all the roofs of the building had collapsed due to overheating.

"Inside the factory there is a lot of fuel, so the fire started suddenly and spread very quickly," said a witness quoted by local media.

The plant where the incident occurred is located approximately 200 kilometers north of Henan's provincial capital, Zhengzhou.

The two-story building houses several factories staffed by villagers from surrounding towns four to six kilometers in radius.

According to Reuters, many of the victims are women who made cotton clothes.

At the moment the total balance of men and women among the deaths is unknown.

In a report published in the Chinese digital

(

, in English) condemns the lack of regularization in the contracts of the employees of the plant.

According to an investigation by this medium, in the last three years, the Kaixinda Trading company has not had workers registered with social security.

The aforementioned article also includes testimonies from relatives of the possible victims, who assure that people over 70 years of age worked in the factory, earning between 30 and 50 yuan a day (between four and seven euros, according to current exchange rates).

According to the 2018 regulations, the minimum wage for workers in the lowest category in Henan is 15 yuan an hour (just over two euros at current exchange rates) and 1,500 yuan a month (about 205 euros).

According to the company profile published in Tianyancha, a database with information on Chinese firms, Kaixinda was founded in December 2007 in Anyang, specializing in the manufacture and wholesale of products ranging from heavy machinery parts, materials construction and special chemicals, through furniture, clothing, shoes and hats.

The company's legal representative is Kang Jige, who has held a similar position in as many as seven companies, five of which have been canceled or aborted.

Kaixinda's five main shareholders go by the last name Kang, and each has operations in at least two other firms.

In 2020, Kaixinda was fined 81,900 yuan (about 11,180 euros) for illegal land occupation.

CCTV has reported this Tuesday that at least the person in charge of the factory is in police custody.

Several industrial accidents in China have made headlines in recent years, raising questions about safety standards and spattering officials tasked with enforcing them.

In June, one person was killed and another injured in an explosion at a Shanghai petrochemical plant that sent thick clouds of smoke into an industrial area on the outskirts of this megacity of 26 million people.

Last year, a gas leak killed 25 people, injured a hundred and reduced several buildings to rubble in Shiyan, in the central province of Hubei.

In March 2019, an explosion at a chemical factory in Yancheng, 260 kilometers from Shanghai, killed 78 people and leveled homes within a radius of several kilometers.

four years earlier,

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