Shenzhen school bursts into flames, sending plumes of smoke over city

Kevin McGeary August 27, 2013 4:22pm

Did you see a cloud of smoke hanging over Shenzhen’s Futian District this morning?

It turns out it came from Yaohua Experimental School on Lianhua Road and was caused by construction work at the school. Welding sparks ignited insulation materials that were stacked outside the school, according to a Guangdong-based Sina microblog.

The cloud of smoke, image courtesy of Sina Weibo

There were no injuries and it took just five minutes to put the fire out, but it must have been an alarming sight for people working in or around Shenzhen’s Central Business District.

The issue of unsafe insulation materials used in construction was raised in June when an explosion at a construction site in Guangzhou’s Panyu District left a mushroom cloud hanging near Clifford International School.

Kevin McGeary

China hand, bawdy balladeer.