A fire that killed 10 people in China’s Xinjiang region has sparked anger at the zero-COVID policy as Beijing faces increasing public disapproval over its hardline approach to stopping the spread of the coronavirus. On Thursday night, 10 people were killed and nine injured after a fire in a residential building in the northwest region’s capital Urumqi, the state news agency Xinhua reported. Chinese and overseas social media posts which have emerged since Friday claimed rescue attempts were hampered because of COVID lockdowns, and that residents could not escape in time. China’s COVID policy has led to public frustration and some videos appeared to show crowds of people protesting against the policy in the streets of Urumqi, following demonstrations in other cities. China has put the vast Xinjiang region, home to 10 million Uighurs, under some of the country’s longest lockdowns, with many of Urumqi’s four million residents barred from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days.
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