119 killed in deadly fire at China poultry plant

At least 119 people were killed and 54 others injured on Monday in a major fire at a poultry processing plant in northeast China, in what could be the country's deadliest inferno in over a decade.

The fire broke out at around 6:06 AM (local time) at a slaughterhouse owned by the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company in Mishazi Township of Dehui City, Jilin Province, according to firefighters.

The Jilin provincial government information office said on its Weibo microblogging site, that 119 people had died. Over 300 workers were in the plant when the accident happened, survivors were quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying. The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained, but state broadcaster CCTV said eyewitnesses had heard a blast and suspected a leak of liquid ammonia. The CCTV also said on its Weibo account that the fire could have started due to an electric spark in the plant.

Six hours after the fire broke out around 6:00 am it had largely been brought under control, CCTV said. The survivors said that a sudden bang was heard and then they witnessed dark smoke. About 100 workers managed to escape from the plant whose gate was locked when the fire occurred, survivors said.

"I started working at 6 am along with another 100 workers in my workshop. There were two workshops in the plant," said Wang Fengya, a 44-year-old female worker who was burnt in escaping.

"Soon after, someone shouted 'run away!' and we quickly ran to the exit, which is about 40 metres away from my seat. Suddenly, the lights inside went out and the plant got quite dark," said Wang, adding that her legs felt like jelly as she fled.

Wang said she fell down and hurt herself in escaping. "When I finally ran out and looked back at the plant, I saw high flames," she added.

Wang and another three workers were sent to the Changchun Central Hospital with light injuries.

Slaughterhouse worker Guo Yan stood outside the police cordon encircling the burned-down factory, waiting for a relative and co-worker trapped in the plant. The rescue work was on at the facility that was charred by the accident.

The complicated interior structure of the pre-fabricated house in which the fire broke out and the narrow exits added to the difficulties in rescue work, sources with rescue forces said.

Media reports said that some more people were trapped in the blaze. The exact number of those trapped in the plant was not known.

The building's steel frame and dense smoke could be seen after the fire was put out at noon. People living nearby said they could smell a pungent odour and some suffered headaches.

Some victims' families have arrived at the scene and demanded the government investigate and announce the cause of the accident as soon as possible. Established in September 2009, the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company has 1,200 employees.

Image: Rescue workers and fire trucks are seen outside a site of a fire, at a poultry slaughterhouse in Dehui, Jilin province | Photograph: Xinhua/Wang Haofei/Reuters