Commentary
On Nov. 24, in the Jixiang Garden district at the heart of the city of Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang region, the epidemic prevention and closure policy had been in place for over 100 days, leading to a deadly high-rise fire. Unable to escape or to be otherwise rescued, at least 10 people died, and nine more were seriously injured.
The last WeChat message of a Uyghur fire victim named Bahargul reads: “There’s a serious lack of oxygen right now. The fire is growing bigger and bigger. … The apartment unit door is locked from the outside, we can’t get out. … At this moment, I’ve no real hopes. I only want to say something here to let more people know what happened.”…