Twenty-nine people were killed after a fire broke out in the east wing of the inpatient department of a hospital in China’s capital Beijing, the Beijing Daily reported. Beijing hospital fire death toll rises to 29.
The fire broke out at around 12:57pm (0457 GMT) and was extinguished at around 13:33pm after an emergency team rushed to the scene of the accident in Beijing’s Changfeng Hospital, according to the Beijing Daily.
A total of 71 people were evacuated and transferred after the rescue work.
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As of 6pm (1000 GMT), 21 had died after being transferred to hospital for treatment, the Beijing Daily reported.
“It’s tragic. I can see the accident from the window of my house. A lot of people were standing on the air conditioning unit at noon, and some even jumped off,” said a Weibo netizen.
Hospital fires are rare in China, and the cause of the blaze is still being investigated. State broadcaster CCTV reported that out of the dead, 26 were patients at the hospital, two were hospital staff, and one was a patient’s family member.
State-run People’s Daily reported that as of Wednesday morning 39 people were being treated in hospital with injuries, and another three had been discharged.
Top city officials visited the hospital shortly after the fire, which broke out at around 1:00 pm on Tuesday and was extinguished half an hour later.
Beijing party secretary Yin Li vowed to “quickly identify the cause of the accident and hold the relevant responsible persons accountable”, according to the Beijing Daily.
AFP journalists on Wednesday saw dozens of people outside the entrance to the hospital, where a large number of police officers were stationed.
Some of the hospital’s windows appeared blackened and at least one was broken. The facade of one of the hospital buildings was completely blackened by soot.
AFP journalists saw people who appeared to be investigators taking photos from inside the blackened building, with the interior visibly damaged by the flames.
Many family members lost contact with patients in the aftermath of the disaster, the China Youth Daily said in a separate report on Wednesday, adding that many of them were elderly people with mobility problems.
A police officer on the scene on Wednesday told AFP the city “will probably make the appropriate arrangements” to take care of victims’ relatives.
Deadly fires are common in China due to weak safety standards and lax enforcement. Tuesday’s tragedy was the deadliest in the Chinese capital since a June 2002 fire at an internet cafe killed 25 students.
Ten people died in an apartment block blaze in northwestern Xinjiang in November, sparking protests against Covid-19 lockdowns blamed for hindering rescue efforts.
And 38 people were killed in a fire at a factory in central China, also in November, with authorities blaming workers for illegal welding.
