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Company dorm fire leaves 11 dead in Qingdao

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-04 15:52

Eleven workers were killed and 10 others injured in a fire that broke out Thursday morning in a seafood company in the coastal city of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.
The victims are all males. Six of them were from the central China's Henan Province and the rest were from Shandong, said an official with the Qingdao Public Security Bureau.
"The company has informed their families and they were expected to arrive in Qingdao on Thursday night or Friday morning to deal with the aftermath," said the official.
Earlier in the morning, the injured had been taken to a hospital.
"Doctors said they were slightly injured and were all out of danger," said an official with the city's fire control department, who asked to remain anonymous.
The fire occurred at 1:40 a.m. in a dormitory of the Qingdao Jiayuan Michael Food Co., Ltd. in the Chengyang District.
"There were 84 bunk beds in the building but only 51 workers were inside when the fire broke out," said the official.
In surrounding dormitories there were more than 160 people, all of whom managed to escape.
None of the company's food processing areas were affected.
There were around 80 fire fighters and 10 fire engines who had the fire out in less than one hour, he said.
An investigation into the cause is underway.
Established in 1998, the Jiayuan Michael Food Co,. Ltd is a Sino-U.S. joint venture producing frozen fish. It employs 600 people.