A fire breaks out at the Chinese battery giant’s CATL factory
A fire broke out on Sunday at a factory owned by Chinese battery giant CATL, which supplies electric vehicle makers including Tesla, but only a “relatively minor” impact on operations is expected, the company said.
A CATL spokesperson said there were no injuries or casualties at the plant in the coastal city of Ningde, and that “the reasons behind this accident are still under investigation.”
Emergency services were sent to the factory to fight the fire and organize the evacuation of all people on the 15,000-square-meter site, said a statement from the Dongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Firefighters were alerted to the fire just before 11:30 a.m. local time (03:30 GMT).
It was not immediately clear what was being produced at the factory, CATL’s base in eastern Fujian province, but the company said the effect of the now-extinguished fire would not be significant.
“The impact on CATL’s overall manufacturing operations is relatively minor,” the spokesperson said.
Videos published by Chinese business media outlet Cailianshe and posted on social network Weibo showed parts of a large white building in flames with thick gray smoke billowing into the sky.
AFP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the images.
Founded in 2011, CATL produces more than a third of the electric vehicle batteries sold worldwide for automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai.
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