“OMG, they are burning trash again in Hong Kong,” a Shenzhen netizen complained as a sea of odorous smoke shadowed downtown Shenzhen on March 2 – a haze that swallowed up Shenzhen’s iconic KK100 and Diwang Building, among others.
Investigation by Shenzhen’s fire department showed no report of a fire in Shenzhen and, as suspected, the ominous smoke was wafting from a waste burning recycling plant in Hong Kong (namely, Anlong Recycling Plant), which stores used tires, plastics and batteries, according to HK01 Media. The plant is located on Ping Che Road, four kilometers away from Luohu District in Shenzhen.
Across the bay, the fire – first reported at 3.55pm – was upgraded to Level 3 (the most serious being a Level 5) at 4.26pm and was followed by several explosions before being extinguished around 8pm. The blaze left two waste recycling plants in ruins.
Although Shenzhen’s environmental committee has stated the day’s air pollution level posed no threat to human health (after testing the air’s benzene level), the sooty smoke sparked unrest among Shenzheners, who recall more than one smoky day as a result of waste recycling fires in Hong Kong.
Carrie Lam, the chief secretary for the administrative office, had previously apologized to Shenzhen at the 2013 Hong Kong/Shenzhen Cooperation Meeting about a disturbance caused by a fire at a waste recycling plant in Ta Kwu Ling, an area adjoining Luohu. Since Lam’s apology, a total of four similar cases have occurred: one in 2013, another in 2014 and two in 2015, according to sznews.com.
“Apparently not everything coming from Hong Kong is good,” joked one Weibo netizen.
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