China: 39 dead in fire in commercial building, investigation opened
A fire killed 39 people and injured 9 in southeast China.
The building housing businesses caught fire yesterday early in the afternoon.
An investigation was opened to determine the causes of the fire.
The burned building where 39 people died, in Xinyu, China, January 25, 2024. AFP - CNS
By: Stéphane Lagarde Follow
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With our correspondent in Beijing,
A minute of silence in tribute to the victims, officials in dark clothes with their heads bowed in front of the cameras.
The Xinyu authorities' press conference
began with a lengthy apology this morning, as for the second time in almost a week, China wakes up to deaths in a tragic fire.
Students preparing for the baccalaureate
The one that occurred yesterday in the province of Jiangxi in the southeast of the country broke out in a mixed 6-story building including restaurants, offices and a hotel, probably due to renovation work on a cold storage room below. -ground, indicates
the preparatory investigation
.
20 vehicles and 118 firefighters were dispatched to the scene.
“
Upon arriving on site,”
says the head of the local barracks, “
the emergency services arrived on site and noticed that thick black smoke was emanating from the building... People were calling for help on the 2nd floor.
At 3:50 p.m., the fire department deployed ladders on the facades to evacuate residents.
»
Images
posted on the Weibo network also show residents jumping out of windows onto a mattress installed on the sidewalk.
The second floor of the building houses a training establishment, among the prisoners of the flames students taking support courses for the baccalaureate.
According to authorities, 48 people were rescued, 39 died and 9 taken to hospital.
Repeated fire
On social networks, some are expressing their anger following these repeated accidents where non-compliance with safety standards is singled out.
This incident comes five days after the death of 13 schoolchildren in a dormitory fire in the central province of Henan.
In November last year, 16 people died after a fire at a coal company office in the northern province of Shanxi.
In Beijing, seven months earlier, 29 people lost their lives in
a hospital fire
.
Not to mention a fire in a residential building in Urumqi on November 24, 2022 which killed at least 10 people triggering demonstrations across the country against health measures, accused of having hindered relief action.
A sign of the authorities' concern, the Chinese president issued, according to China Central Television, "
important instructions requiring the limitation of the number of accidents
."
A fire in an apartment building in eastern China has killed 39 people, according to state media.
https://t.co/zQBQMza3KR
— Stéphane Lagarde (@StephaneLagarde) January 24, 2024
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