China Shuts Down 14,000 Internet Cafes After Fire

July 28, 2002 - 0:0
BEIJING -- China has forced 3,100 Internet cafes to close and temporarily banned 11,000 more in a nationwide safety crackdown after 25 people died in a cyber cafe fire in Beijing, the Beijing Daily said on Saturday.

Police discovered and redressed safety risks at another 19,000 of the 39,000 cafes they inspected through the end of June, the paper quoted Public Security Vice Minister Yang Huanning.

Some Beijing Internet cafes have already reopened -- minus violent video games and smoking -- just a little more than a month after a fire in mid-June at an unlicensed cyber bar killed 25 people. After the inferno, Beijing ordered all Internet cafes closed until they could be inspected, Reuters reported.

The paper said 11,000 still had problems to rectify before they could reopen.

Cafes have taken fire safety measures such as unlocking doors and windows, removing barriers that blocked exits and installing fire fighting equipment, the Xinhua news agency has said.

Gambling, violent video games and noisy behavior were also banned, according to Xinhua.

Police have detained two teenage boys accused of starting the fire, Bijing's worst in more than 50 years, because the owners would not let them in.