The 1994 Karamay fire (simplified Chinese: 克拉玛依大火; traditional Chinese: 克拉瑪依大火; pinyin: Kèlāmǎyī Dàhuǒ) is considered one of the worst civilian fires in the history of the People's Republic of China that occurred on December 8, 1994. A fire broke out in a theatre hosting 1,000 children and teachers in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. During the fire, the students and teachers were ordered to remain seated to allow Communist Party offici...
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The 1994 Karamay fire (simplified Chinese: 克拉玛依大火; traditional Chinese: 克拉瑪依大火; pinyin: Kèlāmǎyī Dàhuǒ) is considered one of the worst civilian fires in the history of the People's Republic of China that occurred on December 8, 1994. A fire broke out in a theatre hosting 1,000 children and teachers in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. During the fire, the students and teachers were ordered to remain seated to allow Communist Party officials to walk out first. The fire resulted in 325 deaths with 288 of them being school children.
On December 8, 1994, 500 schoolchildren were taken to a special variety performance at a theatre in Karamay at Friendship Theatre (友谊馆). Most were the best and brightest pupils in their classes, aged between 7 and 14. From the accounts of survivors, it appears that spot lights near the stage either short-circuited or fell. The curtain caught fire, then exploded, and fire engulfed the auditorium within a minute or two.
The first few seconds was the...
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