Results tagged “fire”

Computers that spontaneously combust are old news, but when a whole bus inexplicably catches fire it catches our attention. Nanfang Daily reported that a shuttle bus on its way to Foshan from Panyu burst into flames on the highway, forcing the driver and thirty seven passengers to evacuate the vehicle. But mere fire wasn't enough to stop the inferno bus: once the passengers and driver evacuated, the bus continued on its way towards Foshan for a full kilometer before finally burning out.

As an update to yesterday's Bund fire, we present Xinmin's news report: The fire began at 4pm, across the street from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's Shanghai Bund branch. The flames sprung from the Bund renovation platform, starting after errant welding caused something to go ablaze. But firefighters managed to wrestle it under control without causing any casualties. Interestingly enough, the Bund wasn't the only thing to catch fire yesterday. In the same morning, six floors of Ocean Hotel in Hongkou began billowing smoke. The cause was also "welding."

     

According to a tipster, something has caught fire on the Bund! Details aren't especially clear, but it looks like the fire is coming from the dock right across from the old Bank of China building on Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu (中山东一路). The tipster has now sent in some photos, snapped with his iPhone. Seems that the stuff that caught fire is scaffolding and support beams for the Bund's underground traffic tunnel (built to reroute ugly traffic away from the main thoroughfare).

Egads! Another CCTV fire! Luckily, this one was not nearly as damaging as the one that happened in February, which basically rendered the not-fully-built TVCC building completely unusable. Yesterday's incident was minor: smoke had been rising from the CCTV building's roof, but the flames had already died by the time firefighters arrived. Unfortunately, the current explanation is not particularly relief inducing. According to a translation by Danwei, the fire possibly "occurred because of the scorching weather, which caused the film on the glass to spontaneously ignite." Great. Isn't flammable exoskeleton the thing that caused the TVCC building to become a fire beacon as well?

What's going on with China and its exploding buses? Just days after that bus fire in Chengdu killed 24 people, one in Shenzhen burst into flames as well. On the morning of June 13, a public bus on the 320 route began emitting smoke at a traffic light intersection.

      

Around 1:30pm this afternoon thick plumes of black smoke could be seen coming from the corner of Huaihai Lu and Fuxing Lu, just above Laifu Restaurant. There is a small roof garden on top of the building and this seemed to be the main source of the fire, though officers from the five fire engines that arrived also gave the adjacent Hot Pot King restaurant considerable attention. The streets became flooded with people - evacuees and onlookers - while the toxic smoke covered the section of Huaihai Lu between Laifu and the Citic Bank opposite. There appeared to be no injuries or casualties.

The deadly bus fire in Chengdu has sounded a warning to cities all over China to make sure that their buses are equipped and outfitted so as to minimize the chance of something similar happening again. But of course, never leave anything up to the government, right? The sales of safety hammers (10-80 yuan) in Shanghai are booming, and Shanghai has also decided to increase the number of conductors on buses in the upcoming months, especially on routes near the World Expo. Chinese media also reports that there have been emergency drills and exercises to help train bus drivers and people about what to do under such situations.

A bus burst into flames on an off ramp in Chengdu earlier this morning. The fire has claimed 24 lives and injured 42 people. Its cause has yet to be determined and is currently under investigation. Head to GoChengdoo for more information.

A bookkeeping official in Dongfushan village, Guandong province allegedly razed 24 mou (亩) of land - roughly 4 acres - to provide himself and his family with a large "luxurious and imposing" cemetery plot according to a Guangzhou Daily article from last week.

The fire started at around 9:48am at the construction site for Shanghai IFC, a twin set of buildings located at 8 Century Avenue. The flame spread across a dormitory and activity room for migrant workers, causing part of the three story building to collapse before it was extinguished by firefighters at around 11:20. There were no casualties. The cause of the fire is now under investigation. Shanghai's HKD 8 billion IFC building is being developed by the same people who built the IFC in Hong Kong and is expected to house HSBC's Shanghai headquarters. Check out a video report and more pictures at Xinmin.cn.

    

Details are scarce, but there is billowing black smoke coming from near the Pearl Tower in Lujiazui, Pudong - the financial district of Shanghai. The fire seems to have started in the workers dormitory of a building under construction right next to the Sheraton Hotel on Pujian Road (浦建路 38).

According to the twitter grapevine (@zhongnanhai), CCTV might be using its recent disaster to cut down on the little benefits that come with office life. It's allegedly removed water coolers, mini-fridges, humidifiers and microwaves in the building inan attempt to prevent fires. Are the staff bonuses (adorably named the "Cultural and Ideological Progress Bonus," by the way) also a victim of the burning of TVCC?

Shanghaiist received an anonymous tip earlier today on our Contribute page:

Don't know if anyone has confirmed whether this was an accident or not or generally what happened... but it appeared that Shanghai Stadium was on fire this morning.

I got to the lobby with my camera but the staff made me delete the photos I got. I have some from the outside on my Flickr page tagged with Shanghaiist.

Various reports on yesterday's bus explosion in Yangpu District have attributed the cause of the fire to flammable material that one passenger brought onto the bus, but Hong Kong's Apple Daily《苹果日报》has suggested a "suicide-style bombing" (自杀式炸巴士) by Xinjiang terrorist groups. Here's part of the report, as translated by ESWN:

... Even more frightening to the citizens than the casualties at the scene is the vague reporting by the media. The description covered 'self-ignition,' 'ignited explosion (that is, a fire caused by an explosion in the engine),' 'arson' and 'explosion' and this is enough to make one question whether the truth is being concealed. Even more terrifying than the bus being set on fire in an attack is that the Shanghai public security bureau said casually that this was caused by flammable materials brought on by a bus. Even more scary to the outside world is that the authorities could cover up the fact that the train in the Shandong collusion was the Olympic Games special promotion train. If they can seal off the truth about the Shanghai bus and they can seal off the situation about epidemics, what couldn't they not deceive the Chinese people and the rest of the world on?

This just in, from Xinhua:

Some of you have been asking on our Facebook page (remember to sign up as a Fan!) if there will be an update of the Shanghaiist logo once the WFC — you know, the building that had to be redesigned because it reminded people too much of the Japanese flag, took forever to be built because of a property glut, was almost burnt down, and recently suffered a security breach — is up and running.

By W.E.B Lowery

According to renowned photographer Bao Kun, the photography expositions in China did not follow international practice of dividing works into documentary versus art categories. This occurred as a result of historical reasons and led to a series of problems. As a national competition judge many times, Bao Kun has identified many altered photographs winning documentary prizes. After the problem with was exposed, he contacted the China Photography Association. He found that the Association was ready to rescind the award but then it realized that with so many other altered photographs winning awards, it would be a disaster to rescind all those awards. Thus, the awards stayed. Bao Kun thinks that the competitions should be separated by category and the higher quality judges are needed.

This news just in from Shanghai Daily:

FIVE workers were injured in an explosion at a demolished building near Shanghai's landmark Jin Mao Tower in Pudong New Area this morning, Eastday.com reported.

Continue reading "Breaking News: Pudong gas blast injures 5"

Apparently our friends were so addicted to the experience they've done it a few times since. It also looks like a mini-trend has caught on, as several other groups have been inspired to organise their own expeditions up the WFC.

Fire broke out last night at about 8pm in the 12-storey Dehui International Plaza in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Almost 200 fire fighters and 48 fire engines were sent to fight the fire, which they did all night, right up till this morning when they were forced to retreat fearing the tower might collapse any moment. Alas, the fire had by then spread to another neighbouring 20-storey, and they had to continue working. All guests were evacuated safely from the hotel. Latest reports suggest at least three firefighters have lost their lives. This fire comes three weeks after the Wenzhou blaze which we happened to witness with our own eyes. It took away 21 lives.

We arrived in an incredibly foggy but wonderfully warm Wenzhou on a business trip Wednesday morning. On our way from the airport into the city, we were forced to make a detour and found ourselves unable to make our way to our destination because an entire area had been cordoned off. All we could see was a HUGE plume of smoke billowing out from a building which made us wonder if someone had bombed it...

What would you do if you paid a shitload of money to study at some college, thinking it would legit and all, only to be told that your diploma would not be recognised after all? We don't know about you, but we would definitely riot. Well, that's what some civilian students at the Hefei PLA Artillery Academy did a few days back. And it turned out to be a very bloody incident. Iron doors were...

Two weeks ago, when we told you that China's new labour law was going to be a big, big thing, we had no idea it would also be the cause of some serious blood-letting. Local gangs and triads have been attacking the Shenzhen Dagongzhe Migrant Worker Centre which has been instrumental in providing legal advice for rural migrant workers and informing them about their rights under the new labour law. In separate attacks, they shattered...

Southeast Asian pact exposes rifts [NY Times] Southeast Asian leaders signed a charter here today that was drafted as a watershed document to bind the region together as a European-style economic community but has instead exposed the sharp divisions over Myanmar and other issues among the signatories.Malaysia busts DVD lab in its biggest raid in 2007 [Reuters] Malaysia has raided a laboratory capable of churning out $52 million worth of pirated DVDs a year in...

If you, like us, are already cursing the arrival of winter, watch this. There is a little 5 year old girl in Jiangxi who is still prancing around in her birthday suit, and revelling in the cold waters as if its still summer. Her parents say that since she turned one, the girl started showing her great dislike for clothes. She goes to bed nightly without even a blanket on, and if someone actually tried...

Overheard in the comment section of our earlier story on the Chongqing cooking oil stampede was the opinion that the pushing and shoving here in Shanghai is much worse than in Chongqing. Agreed. We see so many potential stampedes happening here everyday and wonder why more people are not getting tromped to death on a daily basis here. But this story by the Financial Times tells us a similar cooking oil stampede that occurred right here in Shanghai two weeks ago, at Tesco's (which we have confirmed from other sources to be the one in Baoshan district). Fortunately, nobody died in that stampede, but 19 people, mostly housewives, did need immediate treatment at the hospital.

If you fancy yourself a punker, pretend to be a punk, or just like watching punks, then the 1234 Beach Rock Festival, is a dream (possibly wet) come true. Scheduled for the 20th and 21st of this month, the 1234 BRF is bringing together some of China's best punk/skinhead bands and adding a sprinkle of international flavor. Included in the line up are well known Chinese punk bands: the Unsafe, SMZB and Misandao, while Shanghai will be represented by local favorites Banana Monkey, Loudspeaker, the Mortal Fools and Muscle Snog. There will also be over a dozen other Chinese bands traveling here from Nanjing, Beijing, Wuhan and Xian to take part in this festival. International acts (as of today) are Cheb Samir and The Black Souls of Leviathan, Skip Jensen, Anti-Clockwise and MIMY.

... at least that is what Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas would have us believe (h/t to Danwei). She recently wrote in to China Daily columnist Raymond Zhou after reading his opinion piece on recent comments by Chinese celebrity Sun Haiying (孙海英) who not too long ago ignited a huge debate with his comments that homosexuality was unequivocally "criminal in nature" ("同性恋就是犯罪“):

Dear Raymond

Continue reading "God hates China?"