'Selfish drivers' blamed for high death count in fire_美文

'Selfish drivers' blamed for high death count in fire

The road got more crowded closer to the scene, she said. "I saw ambulances, police cars and fire trucks all stuck in traffic."

Yu Changfeng of the Wenling Fire and Rescue Services said 12 engines were sent to the scene. Yu did not comment on the traffic difficulties.

"Materials in the factory's storage area were highly flammable," Yu said. "The fire spread quickly and blocked the stairways for workers on the second and third floors."

Investigators are looking into the cause of the blaze.

On Wednesday, police detained factory owners Lin Jianfeng and Lin Zhenjian, and a manager identified only as Yu.

Villager Deng Xu said a friend of his who escaped the blaze with minor injuries estimated that 40 to 50 people were on the second and third floors when the fire started.

Workers lived on the top floor and just one narrow stairway linked three storage areas, with packing materials and leather stacked all around, he said.

Yang Xingui, who runs a grocery store about 200 meters from the factory and was among the villagers who rushed to help, said, "Workers on the first floor rushed out to the open ground of the factory and were crying for help, but there are walls around the factory that kept us from getting to it."

Some people used large sticks to smash the walls, he said.

"The air was filled with the smell of rubber. When we finally broke into the building, fire was everywhere on the first floor. There were people crying for help on the second and third floors."