Villagers in Henan Province recently swooped to the site of a truck accident on the Xuping South Highway, not to check for casualties or to help quash a fire, but to pillage the semi-burnt cotton on board.

The accident occurred on September 29, 2013 at 10:42 AM in Xuchang, Henan Province. A semi-trailer truck hauling approximately 40 tons of cotton travelling on the Xuping South Highway towards Nanyang encountered trouble near the 144 km point. It was at that point the cotton inside the hull unexpectedly caught fire; it soon engulfed the entire truck and its cargo, and could not be controlled.

The Xuchang City Fire Department arrived at the scene after the driver of the vehicle alerted emergency services. It took over 40 firefighters about five hours to extinguish the difficult fire. There were no fatalities or casualties as a result of the fire; however, the fire attracted more than 30 local villagers who came to loot the burning cotton despite the raging fire.

As firefighters struggled to put out the fire, highway police tried to contain the villagers. At 15:30 PM, the fire was finally put out and traffic slowly began to move again. However, looting villagers still lingered at the scene, presumably trying to find the last bits of salvageable cotton.

While the total cost of damage is being assessed, many are wondering what the villagers will do with the semi-burnt fluff.

Source: Sohu

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Keywords: cotton catches fire in Henan