Raw materials and finished products partly blocked the staircase and exit that was open, endangering more lives, the union investigation found. To make matters worse, in an effort to avoid adverse publicity after the fire, the local authority held 50 or so survivors as virtual prisoners for several days in a local hall, banning them from contacting friends or relatives. In mid-January, the factory owner, Lo Chiu Chuen, and three other managers were arrested for violating state safety regulations and two local fire department officers were charged with accepting bribes. Official statistics record 28,200 industrial fires in the first 10 months of 1993 in China. These fires killed 1,480 people and injured more than 50,000.
Fires are by no means the only problem.
In January 1994, the Zhili fire and other disasters finally provoked the provincial government to pass tighter laws on factory safety. Sadly, Lee did not have to wait long. On June 4, the workers dormitory at the Hong Kong- funded Xiecheng Plastics toy factory in Shenzhen collapsed. Eleven workers were killed and 27 were injured. Live and let die Various international labor movement initiatives aim to support Chinese toy workers in their demands for better working conditions.