On August 18, 2025, at 6:45 p.m., flames shot up from the piers of the Xiangjiang Grand Bridge on Changsha’s ring highway. Thick smoke billowed out, swallowing the entire bridge. Video showed black smoke, mixed with sparks, surging hundreds of meters into the sky and turning the evening red.
This fire sent chills down people’s spines. The bridge carries 100,000 vehicles a day and is a vital north–south artery across the river. Even more frightening, just 30 meters below the ignition point runs the natural gas corridor that supplies one-third of the city’s households.
Preliminary analysis suggests that the fire broke out during maintenance work, when sparks from painting operations ignited the scaffolding’s protective netting and some construction materials. The terrifying half-hour blaze exposed the dangers of poor-quality safety nets and lapses in oversight.
Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT2kPBcD6tXn8TP_aV7BmgA/join
#chinaobserver
All rights reserved.
⭐You can support us at: https://donorbox.org/china-observer-supporting-independent-news
⭐For business cooperation, please contact us: business@chinaobserver.co