Recently, in the city of Rongcheng, Shandong Province, a fire broke out at the under-construction Qidonghaitong cold chain warehouse of Lanrun Group, causing flames to soar into the sky. As of now, it is known that 9 people have died.
Around 6:00 pm on December 7th, the official WeChat account of Rongcheng in China released a message stating that around 1:00 pm on the same day, a fire broke out at the Qidonghaitong cold chain warehouse being built by Lanrun Group in Rongcheng due to the ignition of insulation materials, leading to 9 people being missing.
According to the report by CCTV on the 8th of December, as of around 5:00 am on December 8th, all 9 missing individuals from the Qidonghaitong cold chain warehouse fire accident have been found, but unfortunately, they showed no signs of life. The cause of the accident is still unknown at this time.
Reported by Jiemian News on the 7th, a staff member from the Emergency Department of Rongcheng People’s Hospital mentioned that an ambulance was dispatched to the scene of the fire, but there has been no update on casualties since then.
In March 2023, a public announcement on the official website of the Natural Resources Bureau of Rongcheng introduced the construction of a new cold storage project for intelligent standardized cold chain logistics at Qidonghaitong, located in Haigao Garden (Shidao Management Zone) on Linjia Road South, Longteng East Road. The construction covers an area of approximately 126.74 acres with plans to build a 3-story cold storage facility spanning about 15,070 square meters. This project is a key provincial project in Shandong Province for the year 2023.
According to business registration information, Weihai Qidonghaitong Cold Chain Logistics Co., Ltd. was established in May 2015 with a registered capital of 100 million yuan and its legal representative is Liu Hongyi. In March 2021, the company was fined 10,000 yuan by the Muping District Transport Bureau of Yantai City for “engaging in road freight transport operations without obtaining a road freight transport operation permit.”
A news article published on the official website of Weihai City government stated that Weihai City was selected as a national key cold chain logistics base in 2022, and a series of cold chain logistics projects have been initiated. Since 2023, Weihai City has invested 1.06 billion yuan in the construction of four cold chain logistics projects including Yijia Cold Chain Logistics and Qidonghaitong Modern Cold Chain Logistics.
The advancement of these cold chain logistics projects has directly benefited the ready-to-eat food industry as mentioned in the news report.
The tragic fire at the Shandong Qidonghaitong cold chain warehouse caused by the ignition of insulation materials, resulting in the death of 9 individuals, has garnered attention from netizens.
“阿咕啊啊” speculates: “It’s probably another disaster caused by illegal welding during construction. The most dangerous aspect of cold storage is the ignition of insulation materials during the construction process, leading to intense toxic smoke.”
“henanren” comments: “There have been too many fires caused by insulation materials.”