A major poisoning and suffocation incident resulting in the deaths of three workers occurred at a liquor factory in Sichuan two weeks ago, with the authorities issuing a report just recently. The workers collapsed one after another in the fermentation tank at the factory in just a few minutes in the early morning and were only discovered several hours later. Ultimately, they lost their lives.
On October 9, the official WeChat account of the Emergency Management Department of the Chinese Communist Party announced that on September 26, 2025, at around 2 a.m., a major poisoning and suffocation incident took place at the Chaorong Liquor Factory in Chaorong County, Fushun City, Sichuan, resulting in the deaths of three individuals.
Established in October 2018, the Chaorong Liquor Factory is a privately-owned enterprise with a total of four employees. The factory, known for its bulk liquor production, had halted production on July 10, 2025, and resumed operations on September 22. On September 26, the staff was organized to clean the fermentation tanks. There were a total of six tanks in the workshop. The tank where the incident occurred measured 1.6 meters in length, 1.6 meters in width, and 1.6 meters in depth. At the time of the incident, the tank had not yet been filled with raw materials and had no standing water.
According to video surveillance footage, at around 2:00 a.m. on September 26, Long led his colleagues Zhuo and Zheng to the fermentation tank area to prepare for the brewing process. At 2:01 a.m., Zheng entered the tank to begin cleaning. By 2:05 a.m., Long found Zheng had fainted inside the tank and both Long and Zhuo entered the tank successively in an attempt to rescue him, but none of them emerged. At around 6:43 a.m., the operator Zhang discovered all three workers unconscious in the tank and promptly called emergency services. At around 7:15 a.m., the ambulance arrived on the scene for rescue operations, but the efforts were in vain, and the three individuals were pronounced dead.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the direct cause of the accident was the accumulation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide gases in the yellow water tank due to lack of cleaning during the factory shutdown period, leading to oxygen depletion at the bottom of the fermentation tank.
Without proper ventilation or testing of the fermentation tank, the workers entered to conduct cleaning operations, resulting in poisoning and suffocation. Subsequent rescue attempts without adequate protective measures further exacerbated the situation.
Following the media coverage of the incident on October 10, mainland Chinese netizens immediately engaged in discussions. The topic trended on social media, with some expressing sympathy for the victims and raising various questions.
“Xing Han Can Lan 1970”: Working at 2 a.m.?
“Jing Ling Long 0fb”: Carbon monoxide in the open tank?
“Huang Bu Huang”: It’s so tragic. The tank isn’t deep, it’s open, and even the roof is leaky. How did three people die all at once?
“enchuang”: In my opinion, the employer should bear the primary responsibility.
“dahou822”: This factory had four employees, and three died, resulting in a high casualty rate of 75%.
“Du Xiang 123”: The boss of this factory is in trouble, a major safety accident indeed.
“You Ming Zai Du”: Unbelievable. A seemingly harmless fermentation tank turned out to be so deadly.
“zk57001435”: The less dangerous a place appears, the greater the hidden risks it may harbor.