Doors to safety locked State of anguish: A relative of a worker is comforted after the gas leak that killed at least 120 people. The fire and ammonia gas leak at a poultry factory that killed at least 120 people and injured scores of others this week has stirred outrage and debate in China over workplace safety issues. One sharp question being asked by a wide range of critics on the internet and in the state news media is why many of the doors were locked at the factory, the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Plant, where 300 to 400 people were working when the fire broke out on Monday. There have been previous instances of locked factory doors being revealed as hazards in China, but the phenomenon persists. Advocates of fair labour practices say it is one way managers prevent workers from leaving, and at least one survivor from the fire has said online that veteran workers there told her managers had locked factory doors to prevent theft. On Wednesday, Beijing Evening News ran a scathing commentary under the headline "How Many Emergency Exits Are Intentionally Blocked?" The author, Su Wenyang, head of commentary at the newspaper, wrote: "Emergency exits that are intentionally blocked are merely the display of the ruthlessness of a small minority of people towards the large majority of people. I hope that the people responsible for investigating this accident find every single person who gave instructions and implemented the blocking of these emergency exits and punish them according to the law. Not a single person should be let off the hook. Xinhua, the state news agency, ran a report on Tuesday in which a survivor said that it was normal for doors to be locked at the poultry plant during regular factory shifts. "During work hours, if you want to use the bathroom, you have to get the foreman's permission to open the door," said the survivor, who was identified by his surname of Li. After the factory fire, the Communist Party committee in Jilin province, where the factory is, ordered a province-wide inspection of such workplaces to ensure all fire exits were kept open, the article said. But this fire and previous reports of work safety violations show that regulatory actions by officials often fall short in China. Xinhua reported Wednesday that the Supreme People's Procuratorate had sent a team to Jilin to investigate the fire. News reports have said a leak of ammonia gas caused an explosion that started the fire, and medical workers at the scene have determined that poisoning by ammonia gas was a main cause of death. Hu Xijin, the editor of Global Times, a state-run newspaper, said on a blog that although accidents are bound to occur in such a large country, and especially in dangerous industries, "does it have to be such a big accident?" "How come a potentially dangerous factory had no contingency plan?" he wrote. I don't want to disturb the rescue effort, but the accident is too big to be acceptable. I thought China was already at a stage where industrial accidents that kill 119 people could be avoided, but we were all disappointed. An editorial published on Tuesday in China Business Morning Post pointed out that three fires had occurred over four days in north-east China, the other two under the watch of agricultural and oil companies. Zhao said there were 13 vessels on the site, storing 50 tonnes of ammonia gas. One had leaked, and the 12 intact vessels had been handed to a chemical company.