11 arrests in Tianjin after 10 die in fire

Chinese police have detained 11 people in connection with a deadly skyscraper fire in the northern port city of Tianjin, the municipal government said yesterday, after an investigation found numerous fire code violations.

The blaze which killed 10 and injured five early last Friday was caused by renovation materials catching fire on the 38th floor of a serviced apartment building, the Tianjin government said on its official Weibo account.

The companies responsible for the renovations had left a fire prevention water tank empty, rendering firefighting equipment useless and allowing the fire to spread quickly.

All but one of the dead in the fire were renovation workers who were sleeping on site, against regulations. All were men and all were migrant workers from other Chinese provinces.

Tianjin Party Secretary Li Hongzhong said authorities would carry out citywide fire safety inspections in response to the blaze, the official Tianjin Daily reported. 

Fire safety has come under scrutiny after a deadly blaze last month killed 19 in the far southern fringe of Beijing.

Sparks from drilling work caused a blaze at a warehouse storing rubber products in a logistics park in China’s eastern Shandong province on Friday, though no casualties were reported.