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Q: Rawanda tragedy remembered. Hillsborough tragedy remembered. Karamay tragedy never happened.
It's 20 years since the "Let the Leaders Go First" fire tragedy in Karamay. More than 300 teachers and children burnt to death in a theatre through negligence and cowardice. But are they noting the occasion in any way? They are not. They hope people have forgotten all about it. But they haven't.
Are you aware of this event?
I have never heard of it. Not surprised why. A google search....wasnt so helpful. But wikipedia worked.
Try 1994 karamay fire. For some reason wont paste the link. Im sure its my phone
Never heard of it. That's quite ugly indeed, some people might trouble to sleep now. I was able to access the Wikipedia entry from home, no VPN required.
I've never heard it, either!
Twice a month fire drill at my School in Fuk. In my opinion, it was too often. I was always thinking about Cruise liners in US.
Now I know, reason is probably Karamay's School fire.
I had never heard about it either. Absolutely awful.
I remember it from the news. I couldn't remember the name "Karamay", when I first came t China, but I did think if all the emergency lighting boxes everywhere was attributed to that disaster.
...then after living in a "modern" building for several years I can see they do f-all to maintain fire-safety equipment despite a rather steep monthly service fee. Each floor has a couple of fire hose reels in boxes. Almost all boxes have ben jimmied open at some point.... Yes I sometimes use the fire stairs from 20th floor as a means of not meeting my neighbors and an alternative to paying for a fitness center.
When I first communicated an intention to move to Karamay to my friends in my old city, Qingdao, the responses were all the same. Xinjiang...no, don't go there. Great fruit but just too dangerous. One wise young lady simply responded by saying "Let the leaders go first". I went home and looked it up.
The shelled out entrance to the old theatre still stands (because it was Russian built) but no other evidence of the tragedy exists. Except, that is, for the few remaining survivors who bare terrible burn injuries. These people are revered in the local community as heroes. Teachers, mainly, who tried to rescue as many of the children as they could.
The gov't officials who ordered the children to remain in their seats so they themselves could escape unscathed are not evident in the modern society. And they are not revered. Rather, they remain loathed and despised, wherever they happen to be.
I would have thought that, after 20 years, some kind of public display of commemoration would be timely. But it's not happening. Because it never happened.
Never heard of it before, interesting read. Good mention royceH.
