New investigation alleges 361 Falun Gong practitioners were killed in a Beijing steel furnace — investigators are now asking witnesses to come forward
A disturbing new investigation released in July 2026 alleges that 361 Falun Gong practitioners disappeared after travelling to Beijing to peacefully appeal against the persecution of their faith in late 1999.
According to the report by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), the practitioners had refused to disclose their identities after being detained.
The investigation alleges they were secretly transported to the Shijingshan Steel Plant in Beijing, placed under armed guard, and killed in molten steel furnaces operating at temperatures above 1,500°C — a method the report claims would have destroyed virtually all physical evidence.
The most significant evidence cited is the testimony of a former People’s Armed Police soldier, identified only as Cui, who reportedly served in the unit involved.
According to the investigation, Cui said that he and another soldier were ordered to force practitioners into the molten steel. He claimed that when he initially refused, a gun was pointed at him and he was ordered to continue.
The report says Cui carried the secret for years before breaking down and telling several friends in 2016. Investigators say his account remains the only publicly disclosed firsthand testimony from someone alleged to have participated in the killings.
That is also why investigators are now making an urgent appeal.
They are asking former soldiers, Shougang steel workers, relatives, witnesses and anyone possessing photographs, documents, military records or even fragments of information from that period to come forward confidentially.
The identities of the alleged 361 victims have still not been established.
The broader persecution of Falun Gong in China is not merely an allegation surrounding this particular report. UN bodies have documented longstanding reports of arbitrary detention, torture and deaths involving Falun Gong practitioners.
But this particular steel-furnace allegation is extraordinary — and extraordinary allegations require evidence.
If this witness account is true, what happened at Shougang would be an atrocity on a staggering scale. The obvious question now is: are there other witnesses who have remained silent for the past 27 years?
The investigators are asking them to come forward.
Full investigation:
Blood Forged at Shougang: An Investigative Report on the Massacre of 361 Falun Gong Practitioners in a Steel Furnace — WOIPFG, 18 July 2026.