On November 19, 1993, a huge blaze at a toy factory in Shenzhen claimed 87 lives and injured 47. About 200 young, mostly female, workers frantically sought to escape from the Zhili Handicraft factory building that combined a production site, warehouse and dormitory.
The lunchtime fire caused mayhem as the terrified workers frantically searched for a way out. But windows were sealed and the exit gate blocked. Some were trampled to death in the rush.
Months before the blaze, the factory - owned by a Hong Kong man, Lo Chiu-chuen - had been warned by the Shenzhen Fire Department about its inadequate fire safety measures. Appearing barefoot in a Shenzhen court the following year, Mr Lo was given a two-year jail term for negligence.
Since the blaze, fire-prevention measures have been taken more seriously on the mainland. But the plight of toy-workers, including the Zhili fire victims and their families, continues to be overlooked, insists a group of labour activists, the Hong Kong-based Coalition for the Charter on the Safe Production of Toys.
The three-in-one structure that was branded illegal is still common in the Special Economic Zone. In June this year, a Taiwanese-owned electric-fan factory of similar design caught fire. Sixteen people died.
In the run-up to Christmas, the coalition, comprising representatives from a number of labour groups in Hong Kong, will hold street campaigns to raise funds for the Zhili fire victims, many of whom are still unfit for work. Members will hand out Christmas cards carrying messages about the tragedy and the treatment of workers on the mainland in general. They are also keeping up pressure on Italian toy company Artsana S.p.A./Chicco, which the factory supplied, to honour its pledge made two years ago to pay victims a total of about 1.4 million yuan in compensation.