Italian prosecutors open manslaughter probe into factory blaze

By Massimiliano Di Giorgio ROME (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors are preparing to open a manslaughter investigation over a fire that killed seven Chinese workers at a factory in Tuscany on Sunday, a disaster which highlighted rampant abuses in a sprawling network of illegal garment workshops. Officials said authorities were struggling to control the thousands of Chinese factories that had transformed the town of Prato in recent years, often employing unregistered workers in conditions unions describe as "near slavery". It's the Far West," Prato chief prosecutor Piero Tony told local media. "Controls on security and issues relating to the workers are inadequate despite the efforts of local authorities and law enforcement officials.