Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire

The Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire (Chinese: 伊犁61团场火灾) broke out at Chinese New Year on February 18, 1977. When the farm hall was showing a North Korean war movie at new year, a 12-year-old audience member set off a ground spinning firecracker and ignited the mourning wreaths for Mao Zedong displaying in the hall. Although the wreaths should have been incinerated months before, the regiment felt pressure to keep them. There was a crowd crush at the only exit.

694 died and 161 were injured in the fire, mostly children of veterans. The farm was a veteran families settlement established to stop China-to-Soviet migration resembling the Yi–Ta incident. The 1977 Chinese New Year drew large excited crowds as the Mao-era clamp down of new year traditions ended after Mao died in 1976. Mao's ban of new year holidays continued, however, keeping the residents in town and many attended the fatal movie-showing. It is the deadliest fire of the republic and a major Chinese disaster.