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The Ministry of Emergency Management reported that the fire broke out around noon local time at the Huiteng Shoe Industry factory in Jiangtou village within Chendai township of Jinjiang city in Fujian province. Xinhua News Agency released video showing intense flames and thick black smoke rising from the multi-story building with several workers appearing trapped on the roof. A contingent of 183 firefighters along with 35 fire engines arrived at the scene though rescuers had not yet fully entered the structure by mid-afternoon according to Global Times. The agency added that operations to extinguish the blaze and locate missing individuals remained underway several hours after the initial outbreak.
President Xi Jinping described the incident as having caused heavy human losses in instructions carried by Xinhua. The president called for maximum efforts in search and rescue while directing a full investigation into the fire’s origin. Xi further insisted that any parties found responsible must face strict accountability the state news agency reported.
State broadcaster CCTV initially confirmed that the fire had produced casualties without releasing specific numbers. Subsequent updates from the broadcaster placed the death toll at a minimum of 28 according to the BBC which cited Chinese state media. The precise number of injured workers stayed unclear in reporting from outlets including CNN and NBC News that drew on the same official channels.
Jinjiang has long served as a hub for footwear manufacturing and earned the nickname of China’s shoe capital. Local official data compiled by industry trackers showed the city produced more than 1.2 billion pairs of shoes in 2024 which accounted for roughly one-fifth of global output. This manufacturing density has placed added focus on workplace conditions across the sector according to regional economic summaries.
China’s footwear industry has experienced multiple serious fires in past decades. A 2007 blaze at a shoe factory in nearby Putian claimed 37 lives with 19 others injured according to a China Daily report from that time. Another fire at an eastern China shoe plant in 2014 killed 16 people and prompted rescues of additional workers state media accounts from the period indicated.
The Ministry of Emergency Management instructed that all available resources concentrate on rescuing those still trapped and delivering urgent medical care to the injured. Verification of the complete casualty count continued alongside ongoing firefighting the ministry stated through Xinhua. Rescue personnel worked to gain access to affected areas of the facility as authorities began the process of determining how the fire started.
