A fire at the Wenzhou Huihuang Leather Products Limited Company broke out at about 7.35 pm in Pingyang County, Wenzhou, in the province of Zhejiang on 28 July 2004. More than 40 workers were working in the factory at the time, 16 workers were later found dead, 12 injured and 19 escaped. The fire first erupted on the ground floor of the factory building, where raw materials and inflammables had been kept and workers on the upper floors were then trapped, according to the spokesperson of Pingyang County Government. Most workers were injured when they jumped from the building. A doctor at the Countys Number Two Peoples Hospital said two severely injured patients had been transferred to a hospital in Wenzhou, which specialized in treating burns. An orthopedist from the same hospital told CLB that the patients, mainly migrant workers, received fractures when they jumped from this height. Another surgeon said she treated four workers and believed the workers had to risk their lives by jumping because the fire escape corridors were blocked.
A worker who was off-duty that evening told CLB that her friend had many fractures. She also said workers had to work more than ten hours a day during the peak season but their wages were not settled each month as required by the Labour Law. After working there for more than one year, she received no education and training on work safety and never learned of any trade union election, let alone who were the chairperson, vice-chair and representatives on the union committees.
The Countys General Trade Union refused to comment on the blast, saying that only the government would answer enquiries and the trade union could only cooperate with the government in occupational safety works.
The spokesperson of Pingyang County confirmed that police had summoned the factorys legal representative. He also revealed that Wenzhou Huihuang Leather Products Limited Company was a private owned enterprise and it had passed the governments examination on production safety.