Relatives of China Fire Victims Protest Inadequate Public Safety
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LUOYANG, China — Angered by revelations of years of safety violations at a shopping center that caught fire on Christmas, relatives of hundreds of people who died in the blaze marched Thursday to demand better public safety and complain of callous treatment by authorities.
President Jiang Zemin expressed “extreme concern” and ordered officials to “do a good job in dealing with the aftermath of the fire,” the official New China News Agency said.
The Southern Daily newspaper reported on its Web site Thursday that investigators have turned up a history of safety violations and inadequate supervision at the building, which had failed 18 safety checks in the last two years. It said that just four days before the fire, which killed 309 people, the Luoyang fire department asked the city to close the building until improvements were made.
Police broke up Thursday’s downtown demonstration after about 45 minutes. Several hundred people took part in the protest.
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