Factory fire kills 19 in east China: official

[BEIJING] A factory fire has killed 19 people in east China, local authorities said Monday, in the latest deadly incident to hit the country's industrial sector.

The fire broke out on Sunday at a factory in Ninghai county, eastern Zhejiang province, said the local government on its official Twitter-like Weibo account.

The incident, which is under investigation, occurred at a facility owned by the Ruiqi Daily Necessities Company.

Among eight people rescued from the fire, three were injured and sent to hospital for medical treatment, said Ninghai authorities.

It made for a deadly weekend in China ahead of the communist-led country's 70th-anniversary celebrations on Tuesday.

A packed bus collided with a truck in eastern Jiangsu province on Saturday, killing 36 people.

Industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.

In March, a blast at a chemical plant in eastern Jiangsu province killed 78 people and injured hundreds.

Four months later in July, a huge explosion left 15 dead at a gas plant in central China.

Last November, a truck carrying combustible chemicals exploded at the entrance of a chemical factory in Zhangjiakou, a northern Chinese city that will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, killing 23 people and injuring 22 others.

AFP