Witnesses recount Jilin fire

Maps of the plant have been drawn up according to the workers' accounts to show the scene when the accident happened.

There are two workshops, a cold storage and an office. The plant has six doors along its three sides. Gates 1 and 2 are where workers enter to reach the changing rooms, before they take to their stations. Five of the gates are closed in the day, while the gate to the cold storage is kept open all day for bringing in the poultry.

A blast broke out in the morning in workshop No.1 due to a leakage of liquid ammonia, and caused the fire. The smoke soon smothered the area and obstructed the workers from escaping.

"Power supply was cut off by the fire, so the fire control facilities did not work. And we could not find the gate due to the thick smoke," an employee at Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company said.

"I escaped from the gate to the cold storage, because I know it's always open," another worker said.