Italy fire opens seedy side of Chinese migrant labour
Deaths of illegal workers expose the real cost of the fashion industry's underground operators
There was no fire alarm fitted at the garment factory outside Florence where Chen Changzhong worked and lived.
Heat finally startled him awake on the morning of December 1 last year. Before him was a wall of burning fabric. He raced through the building and became the only worker to survive.
Seven people died at the Teresa Moda factory in Prato, a largely Chinese manufacturing district in Tuscany.
It was the deadliest in memory, exposing the true costs of cheap clothes and the pursuit of profit over safety in the thriving, illicit economy that has grown out of Chinese immigration to Italy.
Five people now face homicide charges, including two Italians who owned the building. Prosecutors contend they failed to meet basic safeguards such as fire alarms and adequate fire extinguishers. Defence lawyers say their clients are not guilty.