Shanghai apartment fire

One week ago, on November 15th, in Shanghai, China, a fire erupted, apparently within construction materials and scaffolding surrounding an occupied 30-story apartment building under renovation. The flames quickly spread to the building itself and soon engulfed the entire structure. Workers and residents scattered down scaffolding, or climbed to the roof, attempting to escape the smoke and flames. Unfortunately, 58 people were unable to escape, losing their lives, and 70 more were injured in the blaze, which was contained within four hours. A number of individuals are now in custody, including some unlicensed welders. The Shanghai government has also taken responsibility for the fire and lax safety oversight, and China has just ordered a nationwide overhaul of fire-control measures. Yesterday was the seventh day after the fire, an important day in China's traditional mourning process

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a building in Shanghai, China on November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

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In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, spectators watch an apartment building on fire in the downtown area of Shanghai on Monday Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua) #

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In this citizen journalism photo acquired by the Associated Press people watch as an apartment building burns in the downtown area of Shanghai on Monday Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Karl Loo) #

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A person waits for rescue in the scaffolding of a burning apartment building in Shanghai on Monday Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua) #

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People from another building watch firefighters extinguish a fire on an apartment building in downtown Shanghai on Monday Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo) #

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A huge fire engulfs a high-rise in Shanghai, after construction scaffolding surrounding the building initially caught fire, spreading to the building itself on November 15, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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People watch a burning residential building in Shanghai on November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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Firefighters spray foam and water on the lower portion of an apartment building on fire in the downtown area of Shanghai on Monday Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo) #

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A man takes a photo of a burning building in Shanghai on November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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Fire rages inside a 30-story Shanghai apartment building as fighters work to extinguish it on November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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Rescue workers carry a victim out of a burning building in Shanghai, November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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Firefighters work into the night, extinguishing a fire at a building in Shanghai on November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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A resident watches a burning building in Shanghai, November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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Chinese firefighters work inside a high-rise apartment building that was just engulfed in flames in Shanghai, on November 15, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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In this picture taken on November 15, 2010, medical personnel transport a victim's body after a massive fire engulfed a high-rise building in Shanghai, China. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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An elderly man looks out from the apartment building which was damaged by fire in the downtown area of Shanghai on Monday Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo) #

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Residents hang onto scaffolding as they wait for help after a fire broke out at their apartment building in the downtown area of Shanghai on Monday, Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo) #

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A survivor receives treatment at a hospital after a massive fire burned a high-rise building in Shanghai on November 15, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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People gather to watch an apartment building that was destroyed by fire, while flowers and wreaths are placed around in the downtown area of Shanghai on Nov. 17, 2010. (AP Photo) #

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This photo taken on November 17, 2010 shows two fire extinguishers hanging from damaged scaffolding after a huge fire at a high-rise building in Shanghai on November 15. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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People look up at the entrance of a burnt apartment building in Shanghai, November 18, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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A Chinese girl, on her way to lay flowers for victims who were killed in an apartment building fire in Shanghai on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010. Thousands of somber Chinese marked a traditional day of mourning Sunday for 58 people killed in a high-rise fire in a gathering closely watched by police. (AP Photo/Color China Photo) #

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A man prays for victims killed in an apartment block blaze, at the entrance of the building, in Shanghai November 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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Relatives burn the belongings of their relatives who were killed in the apartment fire in Shanghai, November 16, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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On November 18, 2010, Chinese people mourn for the victims at a makeshift memorial at the scene of a huge apartment fire in Shanghai on November 15. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Standing behind a barrier, people look on during a memorial service at the scene of a huge fire which engulfed a high-rise in Shanghai on November 15. Photo taken on November 18, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A woman weeps as she looks at the entrance of a burnt apartment block in Shanghai November 18, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song) #

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Chinese police officers stand guard while a sign reading, "Don't Cry Shanghai," is held up amongst a crowd as they gather to view a fire-damaged apartment building on Nov. 21, 2010. (AP Photo) #

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A policeman, center, stands watch as people lay flowers for victims, who were killed in a fire accident on an apartment building in Shanghai on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Color China Photo) #

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Chinese people bring flowers to place at a makeshift memorial at the scene of a huge fire in Shanghai on November 18, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Chinese woman places flowers at a makeshift memorial in Shanghai on November 18, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A man mourns for his relatives at a makeshift memorial at the scene of a deadly fire in Shanghai on November 18, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

France on strike

Weeks of strikes, protests and demonstrations have brought much of France to a standstill as workers, students and others voice their strong opposition to a government proposal to raise the age for a minimum pension from 60 to 62. A quarter of the nation's gas stations were out of fuel, hundreds of flights were canceled, long lines formed at gas stations and train services in many regions were cut in half. Protesters blockaded Marseille's airport, Lady Gaga canceled concerts in Paris and rioting youths attacked police in Lyon. The unpopular bill is edging closer to becoming law as the French Senate is preparing to vote on it today. Collected here are recent images of the unrest around France. Update: Pension reform bill just now passed by French senate.

A man holds a placard which reads "Listen to the public's rage" during a demonstration in front of the French Senate in Paris October 20, 2010. French trade unions kept up their resistance on Wednesday to an unpopular pension reform due for a final vote in the Senate this week. (REUTERS/Charles Platiau)

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People march during a protest in Marseille, southern France, Saturday Oct. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Claude Paris) #

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A truck driver walks past a line of lorries as he waits outside a fuel depot of the society SFDM near the oil refinery of Donges, near Nantes, October 22, 2010. (REUTERS/Stephane Mahe) #

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Aerial view of Tankers and other vessels waiting off shore near Marseille's port in Martigues on October 17, 2010, where two oil terminals are blocked by strike action. (ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Demonstrators gather around a puppet symbolizing the French Republic during a protest in Paris, Tuesday Oct.19, 2010. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) #

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Workers demonstrate in front of the Senate on October 20, 2010 in Paris, France. President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62 has prompted Oil workers to protest crippling the transport system and triggering gas shortages. Students are also attending demonstrations and have in some cases barricaded entrances to schools. (Franck Prevel/Getty Images) #

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Arcelor Mittal steel workers dressed in protective work suit demonstrate over pension reforms in Marseille October 12, 2010. (REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier) #

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Youths scramble outside a looted store during clashes with police forces in Lyon, central France, Wednesday Oct. 20, 2010. France's interior minister threatened Wednesday to send in paramilitary police to stop rioting on the fringes of protests. Months of largely peaceful demonstrations against the pension reform have taken a violent turn in recent days. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) #

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A gendarme helicopter circles overhead at low altitude during clashes between youths and police forces in Lyon, central France, Wednesday Oct. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) #

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People demonstrate on October 12, 2010 in Paris, to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to up the retirement age to 62. (FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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High school students shout slogans as striking railway workers burn railway tracks during a demonstration at the old port of Marseille October 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier) #

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Passengers wait for a train on a platform at the Gare du Nord railway station in Paris October 19, 2010 during a nationwide strike by public sector workers to protest against pension reform. Airport staff, bus and train drivers, postal workers and the armored truck drivers who keep cash machines stocked up could join refinery workers and others in a day of nationwide strikes against the plan to raise the retirement age. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes) #

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Passengers walk on the highway as French striking workers block the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy near Paris October 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes) #

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People block the access to the Nice airport on October 19, 2010, as they demonstrate during the sixth day of coordinated nationwide protests. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images) #

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French police secure an entrance at Orly airport, south of Paris, as striking airport workers blocked the access to roads October 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Guillaume Bertrand) #

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Striking workers clash with police as they block the Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy near Paris October 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes) #

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French police take position during clashes with youths after a demonstration over pension reform in Lyon, October 19, 2010. (REUTERS/Robert Pratta) #

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High school students shout during a demonstration against retirement reforms in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) #

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French high school students kiss on the road in front of the police at the end of a demonstration over pension reform in Paris October 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes) #

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Youths overturn a car in a street in Lyon, central France, Thursday Oct.21, 2010. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) #

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Plainclothes police officers, right, try to detain a youth during a protest in Paris, Thursday Oct. 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) #

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Riot police officers detain a youth during clashes in Lyon, central France, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) #

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A demonstrator holds a flare aloft as private and public sector workers demonstrate over pension reforms in Nice October 19, 2010. (REUTERS/Eric Gaillard) #

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Civil security members requisitioned by the French government clean the streets and pile up garbage in Marseille October 20, 2010 on the ninth day of a strike by rubbish collectors. (REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier) #

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Oil trucks leave an oil depot escorted by french riot police in Bassens, near Bordeaux, southwestern France,Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Bob Edme) #

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Riot policemen push demonstrators who blocked the fuel storage depot of Douchy-Les-Mines, northern France, to protest against French government pensions reform on October 19, 2010. (FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A nurse denounces the anticipated 67-year-old age for retirement during a workers and students demonstration ending at Place de la Bastille on October 12, 2010 in Paris, as part of a nationwide action to protest against the government reform bill on pensions. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A child holds a banner on the shoulders of a man during a demonstration in Lyon, central France, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) #

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French high school students, with the message "No to the reform", attend a demonstration over pension reform on October 21, 2010 in Paris, France. (Franck Prevel/Getty Images) #

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A woman holds a sign as she demonstrates during a National Union-Led protest against retirement reform on October 16, 2010 in Paris, France. On the sign, an old woman says "When I was your age, I was already working", and a girl replies "When I am your age I'll still be working." (Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images) #

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French high school students block the entrance of the Dorian high school in Paris October 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Charles Platiau) #

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French Youth run from riot police forces during clashes on October 20, 2010 on the sideline of anti pensions reform protests in Lyon. (PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A French high school student faces riot gendarmes during a student demonstration at the Place de la Republique in Paris October 19, 2010. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes) #

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A tear gas canister explodes near hooded youths during a confrontation with French police at a demonstration against pension reform in Lyon October 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse) #

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Riot police officers detain a youth during a student demonstration in Lyon, central France, Monday, Oct.18, 2010. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) #

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A fireman tries to extinguish a burning car during riots in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, on October 20, 2010. (Franck Prevel/Getty Images) #

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A woman walks past a message written on a road saying "Tous en greve" (everybody on strike) as part of the demonstrations by railway workers from state-run company SNCF during the nationwide day of protest against pension reform on October 13, 2010 in Chenove, eastern France. (JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Students vote during a students' general assembly, to extend the closure of Naterre's university, near Paris, to protest the government retirement reforms, Friday, Oct. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) #

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French gendarmes charge to unblock the entrance of the Grandpuits oil refinery southeast of Paris October 22, 2010 as striking workers unsuccessfully attempted to continue their blockade. (REUTERS/Benoit Tessier) #

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A view of the French Senate, in Paris, Friday, Oct. 22, 2010. The French Senate prepared to vote on a pension reform, after the government short-circuited a protracted debate. The Senate is near certain to approve the measure, which raises the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 later Friday, despite months of strikes and protests. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon) #