The city of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, witnessed protests over a devastating fire that angered residents of the city, which has been under lockdown for 100 days due to the resurgence of the Corona virus.
A fire in an apartment killed 10 people Thursday, while it took firefighters more than two and a half hours to contain it, according to a report published by the newspaper. Wall Street Journal.
The fire incident, amid the city’s lockdown, angered the residents, who posted criticism on social networks, while video clips showed firefighting vehicles waiting to remove roadblocks placed to close the city due to Corona.
Urumqi officials said at a press conference on Friday that rescuers had to remove some barriers, but the delay was due to the large number of cars parked in the apartment complex.
Some residents said on social networks that “electric cars that have been parked for a while prevented firefighting vehicles from entering a narrow road,” as these cars were no longer charged with electricity due to the long closure period.
And video clips were circulated, which were said to be of the burned apartment in Urumqi.
The fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, the last screams of the residents who were burned to death, other residents might only stand by the window to watch, because everyone was locked at home.#TheGreatTranslationMovement pic.twitter.com/Fr1gyrpPsa
— The Great Translation Movement official account (@TGTM_Official) November 25, 2022
This is the second deadly fire in China in the past few days. A factory fire in the city of Anyang, central China, killed 38 people this week, according to Archyde.com.
“The line before life and death might be just a fire because no one can escape this lockdown,” the newspaper quoted a resident as saying on Weibo.
Users shared clips on Chinese social networks showing protesters chanting “lift the lockdown,” and users said they were shot on Friday, but these clips were later deleted from some Chinese platforms.
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Massive protest happened in Ulumuqi，Xinjiang，China following more than 100 days zero-covid city lockdown.
People are chanting ‘stop lockdown’ ‘we are human being’ pic.twitter.com/trQhDSZLXr
— Badiucao Bad ї ucao (@badiucao) November 25, 2022
The newspaper’s report indicated that since early August, the Chinese authorities began issuing closure orders to the residents of Xinjiang, preventing them from leaving their homes, stopping the movement of transportation, and even some tourists in the city found themselves trapped and unable to leave.
The governments of Xinjiang and Urumqi did not respond to requests for comment to the newspaper.
A state of frustration prevails among the population and business owners in China, with the tightening of Corona restrictions, in light of recording a new record increase in HIV infections on Friday, following weeks of growing hopes for easing the procedures, according to a Archyde.com report.
The sharp increase in daily infections in China has prompted widespread lockdowns, as well as other restrictions on movement and commercial activities. Yesterday, Thursday, China recorded 32.6 thousand new infections, with many cities declaring an outbreak of the disease in them.
With more residents affected by the closure measures, some of them began to put forward alternative proposals for coexistence in their areas of residence. In Beijing, residents of some residential complexes exchanged suggestions on the WeChat messaging application that infected neighbors might be quarantined in their homes as long as they did not show serious symptoms. However, it was not clear whether such suggestions might be implemented.
The cities of Guangzhou in the south and Chongqing in the southwest recorded a record increase in injuries, and Beijing, Chengdu, Jinan, Lanzhou, Xi’an, and Wuhan reported hundreds of new daily infections.