Five detained after last week’s Shenzhen market fire

Kevin McGeary , December 18, 2013 7:00am

Five people have been arrested on suspicion of causing the market fire that killed 16 people, including a baby girl, in Shenzhen last week, Sina English reports.

The fire broke out at Rongjian Farmer’s Market in Guangming New District in the small hours of Dec. 11. The flames engulfed an area of 1,290 square meters and took two hours to be contained.

An investigation showed that a short circuit on the power cord of an air cooler at a refrigerating chamber caused the fire, which also injured 5, according to the provincial administration of work safety.

Stalls that had been set up illegally, a lack of fire prevention measures, and poor fire safety supervision were also blamed, according to the investigation.

This has not been a good week in the PRD, as a fire also destroyed a high-rise building in Guangzhou.

Kevin McGeary

China hand, bawdy balladeer.