Chinese factory worker sets fire to textile plant over 800 yuan in unpaid wages

A Chinese factory employee set fire to a textile plant in China’s southwestern Sichuan province in his frustration over unpaid wages of just 800 yuan (or US$111), according to videos posted on social media and eyewitness accounts shared with Radio Free Asia.

Officials aid the arsonist had been detained at the scene of the fire. It said on Friday that the case is under further investigation, including an assessment of total losses incurred.  Police, however, said the claim that “800 yuan in wages were owed” was false, and that the company was in the process of approving payment of 5,370 yuan in wages. It blamed the factory fire on the arsonist’s suicidal thoughts, and said police would deal strictly with those spreading rumors.

The Jinyu Textile Company and Pingshan county office could not immediately be reached for comment.

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