People are said to have taken to the streets of a number of Chinese cities to protest after the apartment fire in the city of Urumqi in Xinjiang province that claimed 10 lives on Thursday.
It has not been possible to confirm how many protests are involved, but in Shanghai the police are said to have used pepper spray against protesters. Posts about protests on social media are reported to have been immediately deleted.
Earlier on Saturday, Xinjiang authorities reopened some neighborhoods in Urumqi after residents demonstrated late into the night against the city’s strict covid restrictions that have lasted more than three months.
Many claim that the restrictions worsened the consequences of the apartment fire. Those responsible, however, deny the accusations and say that there were no obstacles in the building and that the residents could leave it.