Blaze in Chinese market kills 17

A fire at a Chinese wholesale market has killed at least 17 people and injured nine others, including one firefighter who was seriously hurt.

The fire broke out Thursday afternoon on the fourth floor of the market in southern Guangdong province and was controlled that night, said the Communist Party's propaganda department in Huidong County.

It said the cause of the fire was still under investigation, but state broadcaster CCTV said it started in a cinema on the fourth floor where decorative materials were flammable and toxic.

Chinese police said in a statement that the fire was started by a nine-year-old boy "playing with a lighter"

The young suspect has been detained for questioning.

Rescue efforts took a number of hours, with four firefighters injured, one of them seriously.

Some 270 firefighters and 45 fire engines were needed to extinguish the flames, police said.

Footage from the scene showed an excavator dismantling one wall of the building to allow trapped people to escape.

Four firefighters were injured during the rescue mission, one seriously.

Police said the flames quickly spread to the whole floor.

Nine managers at the mall were also detained by the authorities.

China has a dismal industrial safety record as some property and business owners evade regulations to save money and pay off corrupt officials to look the other way.

A fire at a poultry plant in the north-east of the country killed 119 people in 2013.

Reports at the time said that managers had locked doors inside the factory to prevent workers from going to the toilet, leading to the high death toll.

Friday 6 February 2015

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/blaze-in-chinese-market-kills-17-30969025.html