First Person | Guo Yan

Editor's note: Guo Yan, 39, was working in the poultry plant in Jilin province when the fatal blaze broke out.

I heard an explosion first, then someone shouted "Fire!" The workshop was engulfed in a sea of flames. The lights went out and people immediately started to run.

The gate to my workshop was blocked, so I ran toward another exit. Most people were running in that direction as well. Many ran into each other and fell over in a pile on the floor.

I fell over, too. All I could do was desperately crawl forward. My boots had come off, but I had no time to care about that.

With great difficulty, I finally dragged myself out of the workshop. I stopped near the Mishazi tollgate of No 102 State Highway and waited there for my colleagues to emerge.

My husband's stepsister, Liu Liying, was in the workshop. We are as close as natural sisters. But I still don't know if she is alive.

Another two women from my village also work at the factory. I call one of them "elderly aunt". The other one is a young girl. I don't know if they got out either.

I can make more than 2,000 yuan ($326) a month. My child needs money for schooling and I have no choice but to work from dawn to night.

During working hours, most workshop gates are closed to prevent employees from straying from their posts.

Guo Yan was talking to Xinhua News Agency.

(China Daily USA 06/04/2013 page3)