Ten dead in high-rise fire in China - locked doors made rescue difficult

A fire at a residential building in northwest China's Xinjiang region has killed 10 and injured nine others.

The fire broke out in a high-rise building on Thursday evening, the state news agency Xinhua reported. The injured are not in mortal danger, it said. An investigation has been initiated. Videos circulating on the internet showed huge flames blazing out of the windows on the 15th floor of an apartment building. The fire broke out on Thursday.

Large parts of the Xinjiang region, whose capital is Ürümqi, have been in the corona lockdown for more than 100 days.

A number of Chinese criticized on social networks that the rigid measures in the apartment fire had made the rescue more difficult.

Residents wrote that the residents had been made more difficult to escape by locked apartment doors. In addition, some fled their homes too late or not at all for fear of violating the prescribed curfews. Firefighters arrived late due to lattice fences and cars standing in the way.

Deadly fires are also common in China due to weak safety standards and corruption among the officials responsible for compliance.

A factory fire in central China killed 38 people on Monday. According to authorities, workers had disregarded safety regulations when welding.

On Saturday night, several videos circulated on China's social media that were supposed to show protests against the lockdowns in Ürümqi. The recordings cannot be checked independently.