Tianjin Deadly Mall Fire: What Lesson Can be Learned When a Local Government Puts the Ugly Truth Under the Carpet?

Twelve painstaking days in Dubai have proven to be worthwhile. We have made a history for the Thai Futsal. Not only did we win all first-round matches, we have destroyed the 10-time champion Iran national team for the first time in the semi-final. It was so unfortunate that we came out as a runner-up by losing to Japan. But we are extremely happy with the first time runner-up title as an away team. Our consolation prize was to secure our place to participate in the world’s Futsal tournament in November. We earned and had our place in this tournament without using the home team privilege. I can assure you that our Thai national Futsal team is working hard and united to show great sportsmanship. I’m glad to be part of it.

Back to our main purposes in the Zoom In section of the third quarter, everybody has been in the lookout for the whole rainy season with the lingering fear of the Thailand worst flood in the recent history of Thailand. “Will it flood again?”, “How big is the magnitude?” and “What the government has done for getting us ready?” are among a few of popular questions. Where do you plan to have your car(s) parked during the flood this year? Are you sure that your parking space would be high enough and keep your car dry? I see you smiling when reading these dilemmas already. We only hope that our government and relevant authorities would learn something from our painful and costly lessons from last year worst flood in Thai history. With a well-organized plan, the social and economical impacts of any natural disaster of that scale can be mitigated if not eradicated. We only expect to lead our normal simple life if the government cannot deliver us short- or long-term prosperity. People should learn some lessons from the past fiasco. That leads to the main focus of this issue, the recent deadly mall fire at the Laide Shopping Mall, in Jixian county, Tianjin city, China. This fire took place on June 30, 2012. On July 6, the Jixian county news bureau issued a statement on a news channel, similar to twitter, that the Laide Shopping Mall fire had 10 dead tolls and 16 injured victims. There was no missing person.


There was incongruent information of the death tolls circulated online. Chinese newspaper, Global Times, reported on a Chinese online social network blog that the official report  the official report indicated 10 deaths and 16 injured persons but the public challenged the number of death tolls. A Chinese news agency reported the death toll could be as high as 378 persons. There was an outburst from publics asking official to “reconsider the death toll number.” Several Chinese news agencies wrote on the editorial sections demanded the Jixian county official to unveil the truth of the fire incident, respond to the rumors on the internet and restore the public confidence to quickly stabilize the public agitation


Deadly Mall fire victims jumping from the 3th floor to escape burning flame


Deadly fire engulfed the five-story Laide Shopping Mall in Jixian county, Tianjin city around 4 pm on June 30, 2012. The enraged fire lasted till 11 pm that made 7 hours worth of burning fire. The early official report indicated that the fire killed 10 and injured 16. The Tianjin municipal government reported that out of the 10 victims, 9 were female sale staffs working on the 4th and 5th floors of the shopping mall and the other victim was a mall customer. All victims were females aged between 25-44 years-old. Later on the Sing Pao Daily News, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, reported that the actual death tolls was as high as 378 because there was a huge sale promotion and there were a lot of people at the time of the fire incident. When the fire erupted, the exit doors were closed. Hence the death tolls were much higher.


A news reporter at the scene was told that the cause of the fire was from the overloading of the air conditioning compressor outside the building leading to a short-circuiting. When the fire started, the building security staffs did not quickly respond and open the front entrance on the first floor.


A salesperson in this shopping mall unveiled the story to a news reporter that a lot of people caught in the mall and it was hard to escape the fire. “When the fire started at the short-circuited air conditioning system, the inside lighting was blacked out. The building owner ordered to close the building exits in the fear of shoplifting.”


Witnesses confirmed to the news reporter that the main front exit was closed at the time of the fire so that escapees were struck at the inside gate. Another witness explained at the ground floor there were two main entrance doors operated by electricity. At the peak of the mall fire, the main entrance remained closed. Besides the fire escapes of the building were out of order.


An upset victim described the nearest fire station was only 10 minutes away by walking. It took 25 minutes for the fire trucks to arrive at the scene after the fire incident was reported by phone calls. The fire brigades were poorly-equipped and took a long time to control the raging fire. The firefighters did not offer any interview or commends to the news reporters.


Several witnesses at the scene told news reporters that they saw a large number of fire victims struck on the 3th floor and many of them decided to jump from the building in the fear of burning fire. A lot of witnesses described “the fire scene was cruel and horrific to watch.”


From the firsthand information of the witnesses at the fire site, Chinese public was confident that there were attempts to conceal the fact of the Tianjin deadly mall fire. There was an outcry to reveal the truth of the fire incident. Nevertheless the official reconfirmed the earlier reported number of the victims, 10 deaths and 16 injuries. Later the official responded by threatening journalists or online social network blogs to cease the discussion about Tianjin mall fire. Any websites continuing to report the fire incident would be closed down and arrested.


Video links of the facts about the Tianjin Mall fire incidents - These video clips support the claims from the witnesses at the scene rather than the official report of the mall fire.


1. Truth of Tianjin Deadly Mall Fire Gradually Revealed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWxh7K92_5k&feature=related


2. Faked Death Toll in Tianjin Fire?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G-9TfiR9as&feature=player_embedded#!


3. Fire in Tianjin Mall - Official Death toll of 10 Disputed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3KUUjBUnZg&NR=1&feature=endscreen


 After having seen the video links, one would arrive at the same conclusion. There should be more casualties and losses than the official report from the local government. The clips showed the raging flame, thick black smoke, and shocking scene of the fire incident. Also the local fire brigade evidently lacked proper equipment and life saving apparatus (i.e., ladders, lift extension, fire trampoline, etc.) to match the blazing fire on this scale of magnitude.


Personally, I have envied China on many aspects, for example as the emerging world’s economic powerhouse. They did an exceptional job in hosting Olympic Games on 2008. However, there are always rooms for improvement. Often, the Chinese is known to be dishonest in doing business. Chinese companies sometime downgrade the quality of their product for quick profits. Most importantly, their government distorts the truth and sweeps it under the carpet. There are limited press freedoms. In this case, the major shopping mall fire affecting a lot of innocent citizens should be thoroughly investigated and the fact of the matter should be unconditionally revealed to the public in preventing future incidences. Not only the local government did the opposite but also it threatened any media who were trying to take the matter into their own hands. There would be not justice and the lives of the Chinese would be placed on a precarious position. There is a take home massage for Thai authorities who are dealing with the same fire issue. We can learn the negative example from the world’s economic giant but do things differently. The fact is to be learned and the problem needs to be solved. Anything can happen in any day but only with proper preparation the consequence can be mitigated and lessened. I put my high hope on our Thai government and authorities.


Suttipun Wanwinwet 

B.F.M. Co., Ltd.    suttipun@bfm.co.th