Chinese Man Jumps Into Steel Furnace After Losing Money in the Stock Market

A steel factory worker in China jumped into a blast furnace and died after losing $9,100 in stock trading, his employer said.

The 33-year-old worker, Wang Long, had been working at the state-owned Baotou Steel in Inner Mongolia for more than a decade, before he went missing during his night shift on March 24. 

In surveillance footage posted on Chinese social media, Wang is shown throwing his helmet and gloves into the pot of molten metals and minerals before jumping into the pot himself. Temperatures inside the furnace can reach above 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,700 degrees Fahrenheit).

The worker’s death has prompted shock and grief on social media this week. In a Tuesday statement, Baotou Steel said Wang was a longtime stock and futures investor and his death might be related to his trade losses.

Wang lost more than 60,000 yuan ($9,100) from his investments on the day of his death, the company said. “It’s suspected that his suicide was related to the large amount of losses and that he could not repay his heavy debts,” the statement said.