A main character behind the February 27 fire that killed 15 workers at LongFei Recycling Co. Ltd. in Shenzhen was detained by Chinese police. LongFei owner Chen Jinlong, 43, was arrested in his hometown of Shanwei, Guangdong province. Shenzhen police also has detained, among others, the company's business manager and accountant Chen Yongquan, according to a press release by the Shenzhen government.

Local public security and the fire department have told the press that the fire was caused by electrical wire short-circuits during Longfei's around-the-clock production. While the wires melted, sparks dropped to the piles of plastic waste in the operating room, reported local newspaper Yang Cheng Wan Bao.

Sadly, the three workers on shift, two night guards and a company driver who was playing Mahjong with two friends all escaped without alerting the 15 coworkers who were sound asleep. One of the workers said that after he left, he remembered about the 15 people in the loft and returned to the operating room and tried to control the fire with a fire extinguisher, but the raging fire scared him out right away.

The Shenzhen government said it, along with LongFei, has settled the compensation issues for the victims' families. The 15 dead included seven from Chongqing and eight from Lufeng, Guangdong province. The three wounded are all from Lufeng.