A fire at a locked poultry slaughterhouse in north east China kills at least 113 people and leaves several people still unaccounted for, say local government and state media.
Reports suggest the fire near Dehui in the Jilin province was sparked by three early-morning explosions, the Xinhua News Agency said.
The provincial fire department said the blasts were due to a leak of ammonia, a gas that is kept pressurized as part of the cooling system in meat processing plants.
State broadcaster CCTV quoted workers as saying the fire broke out during a change of shifts at the plant, owned by Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Co., and may have originated in a locker room at a time when about 350 workers were at the site. Employees said they heard a sudden bang and then saw dark smoke.
The plant’s “complicated” interior, narrow exits and a locked front gate made escape difficult, Xinhua quoted survivors as saying.
The alarm was raised shortly after a shift began at 6 a.m., and then the lights went out, spiking the level of panic as workers rushed to find an exit.
Wang Fengya, 44, told Xinhua. “When I finally ran out and looked back at the plant, I saw high flames.”
Another worker, 39-year-old Guo Yan, said the emergency exit at her workstation was blocked and she was knocked to the ground in the crush of workers seeking to escape through a side door.
“I could only crawl desperately forward,” Guo was quoted as saying. “I worked alongside an old lady and a young girl, but I don’t know if they survived or not.”
The disaster killed at least 113 people, and 54 people were being treated in hospitals.
The fire highlighted the lax safety standards at many Chinese workplaces.
It could also focus renewed scrutiny on China’s biggest pork producer, Shuanghui International — unrelated to the poultry plant — as it aims to buy U.S. food giant Smithfield in what would be China’s biggest takeover of an American company.
Jason Yan, technical director of the U.S. Grains Council, in Beijing, said safety considerations usually took a backseat in China to features designed to maximize production and energy efficiency.
“I’m sure they consider some aspects of safety design. However, I think safety, to me, is not the first priority in their design plan,” Yan said.
Jilin Baoyuanfeng produces 67,000 tons of processed chicken per year and employs about 1,200 people. The plant is located outside the city of Dehui, about 800 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of China’s capital, Beijing.