China's state media reported on Friday that massive fire broke out in one of Huawei's R&D labs in Dongguan, Guangdong Province in China. Firefighters were rushed to the scene and no casualties have been reported so far.
Videos and images from the site show thick black smoke billowing into the sky. The source of the fire was not revealed, but users on China's social media platform Weibo said they heard an explosion. However, local media hasn't reported any explosion.
Fire in Huawei's China lab
The building that caught fire was reportedly under construction, and had minimal staff inside. Huawei's $1.5 billion Songshan Lake campus drew global attention for its European-style architecture last year and it can accommodate nearly 25,000 employees, but the fire did not break out here, IBTimes was able to verify based on the structures shown in the video. However, we were also unable to find Huawei buildings identical to the one shown in the videos to pin down exactly which Huawei labs actually caught fire.
In the videos on social media, people wearing lab-coats can be seen evacuating the building, which appears to be located close to the main campus. It's rather a part of a larger Huawei manufacturing facility.
According to Dongguan city fire rescue department, the Huawei lab is a steel structure and the main combustible material is the sound-absorbing cotton, local media reported.
