Shanghai fire probe finds bogus deals, cut corners
SHANGHAI, China
Monday's blaze gutted the 28-story building, leaving 70 injured
and dozens unaccounted for, and prompted a belated crackdown on
illegal construction work and lax fire precautions. It also has
raised alarm over widespread use of flammable insulation used to
retrofit buildings to meet new energy standards.
The death toll has climbed each day as new victims are found in
the charred rubble or those wounded die of their injuries, and as
of Friday morning state media said it stood at 58, up from 53 the
day before.
"The accident should not have happened and was completely
avoidable," Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work
Safety, said on his agency's website.
Luo listed a litany of problems with the government-sponsored
energy-saving project: illegal use of unlicensed subcontractors,
poor construction site management, lax local safety supervision and
use of highly flammable nylon netting, insulation and other
materials that caused the fire to spread out of control throughout
almost the entire building.
Anguished family members and others angry over the government's
handling of the disaster are demanding answers.
"The government owes us a reasonable explanation and serious
investigation. They have already lost the chance to apologize to
those who were killed," said Wang Lianguo, a neighbor who said he
spotted the fire while doing laundry.
Authorities say they have identified 26 of the 58 bodies taken
from the building. More than 30 people reportedly remain missing
from the blaze. Most of the dead perished in their homes,
suffocated by toxic smoke, as firefighters struggled to break
through metal security doors.
Officials have not said how many they believe are unaccounted
for, although Shanghai's fire chief said the building was
thoroughly searched after the fire was extinguished.
The inferno was set off by sparks from welding intended to affix
insulating materials to the outer walls of the building that hit
the nylon netting hung as a safety precaution from bamboo
scaffolding, Luo said. Police have detained eight suspects,
including four they said were welders working without proper
qualifications.
The disaster was a blow to Shanghai, China's business capital
and one of the country's most modern, well-run cities, coming less
than month after it claimed success in hosting a World Expo that
drew a record 72 million visitors.
China has been tightening its energy standards, partly to meet
its pledges on climate change and also to reduce waste and curb
soaring consumption of costly and scarce energy resources.
Safety and other environmental issues apparently are being
overlooked as local officials and businesses rush to jump on the
energy-saving bandwagon with retrofitting projects that,
inevitably, are fresh opportunities for the corruption and corner
cutting endemic to construction work in this building-crazed
country.
While the nylon netting -- illegal but widely used on
construction projects -- appeared to be the main vehicle for the
fire's spread, the polyurethane foam insulation being layered on
the apartment building's outer walls was also highly flammable.
Monday's fire, and a similar one triggered by fireworks that
destroyed a luxury hotel at the Beijing headquarters for CCTV,
China's main television network, show the need for tighter controls
on use of new energy efficient materials, said Li Hua, an engineer
and researcher with the China Academy of Building Research.
"Building insulation materials are relatively new in China, but
widely used. The government should supervise the quality of these
materials, ensuring they pass fire prevention standards," he said.
Use of polyurethane foam and other insulating materials is
closely regulated in other countries to minimize well-known fire
risks with flame retardants and fire barriers. Such materials are
not allowed in skyscrapers.
"Buildings are vulnerable to fire during installation of these
insulation materials. It's safer when another layer of coating is
added to prevent fire," Li said.
The main government-owned companies assigned to retrofit the
Shanghai apartment building farmed the work out to other, smaller
contractors who employed nonprofessional laborers, further
complicating matters. Local reports cite residents complaining the
workers smoked on the job, adding to the fire hazards.
According to notices posted on the website of the local
government-owned company in charge of the project, the Jingan
Construction Technology Supervision Co., the effort had already
been cited for safety violations. Another notice said safety
inspections would be carried out weekly to "guarantee work
safety."
Shoddy or unsafe construction is a common problem in China, even
in major cities like Shanghai. Last year, a nearly finished
13-story apartment building in the city's suburbs collapsed,
killing one worker. Officials blamed excavated dirt piled next to
the building for the collapse.
The apartment building that burned Monday was part of a compound
built to help provide teachers and retired teachers with housing.
Now many have nowhere to go.
"Luckily I wasn't at home that day, so I survived, but my home
was burned out," said an older lady whose apartment was on the
19th floor of the destroyed building. She would only give her
surname, Zhao, fearing trouble with authorities.
"Where am I supposed to live? What will I have for the rest of
my life? I don't think anyone has any answers," she said.