According to Chinese official media, a fire at a plant in central China killed scores of workers on Monday, the latest in a series of tragic industrial mishaps in the country in recent years.
The death toll at the factory in Anyang, Henan province, has risen to 38, according to the state-run newspaper Henan Daily, which reported Tuesday that two people who had been reported missing had been found dead following the disaster.
Two more were being treated for minor injuries, according to CCTV, the state broadcaster.
According to CCTV, police have apprehended an indeterminate number of people in connection with the incident, which took firefighters nearly seven hours to put out.
The fire, according to preliminary findings, was caused by violations of electrical welding regulations, according to Henan Daily, quoting authorities.
In recent years, China has seen a rash of industrial mishaps that have killed dozens of people, increasing concerns about public safey.
At least 173 people were killed in 2015 after a series of explosions at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin, China’s northern port city.
Last October, a massive explosion at a restaurant in the northeastern city of Shenyang killed at least three people and injured more than 30 others. The gas explosion occurred in a mixed-use residential and business structure.
In June of this year, a fire broke out at a petrochemical complex in Shanghai, killing at least one person.
