19.04.2023
Chinese authorities said on Wednesday they had arrested 12 people in connection with a fire at a Beijing hospital. The fire killed at least 29 people.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The fire broke out in the private Changfeng Hospital in Beijing on Tuesday (April 18) afternoon. Most of the dead were sick. Dozens of others were injured. Videos posted on social media showed people jumping out of windows grabbing strips of what appeared to be bed sheets, and others sitting on an external air conditioner to escape the thick smoke.
The mayor of Fengtai District expressed his condolences to the 16 women and 13 men who died in the fire and apologized.
Twelve people, including the director of Changfeng Hospital, have been arrested. The 12 also included representatives of the company responsible for decorating the fire ward at the hospital.
Beijing Fire Protection said that preliminary investigations showed that the fire was caused by sparks generated during the interior decoration construction of the hospital’s inpatient department, which ignited flammable paint.
Chinese state television reported that 26 of the dead were hospital patients, two were hospital staff and one was a family member of the patient. As of Wednesday morning, 39 people had been treated for injuries, the official People’s Daily said. Three others were discharged from hospital.
A total of 142 people were reportedly evacuated.
An AFP reporter at the scene of the Changfeng Hospital saw that the investigation into the fire was ongoing
The blaze broke out at about 1:00 noon on Tuesday and was extinguished half an hour later. Beijing officials went to the hospital shortly after the fire broke out and promised to find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible and bring those responsible to justice.
Many patients are elderly with limited mobility
AFP reporters saw dozens of people outside Changfeng Hospital on Wednesday, while a heavy police presence was also present. Some windows in the hospital were blackened and at least one was destroyed. The facade of one building in the hospital was completely blackened.
An AFP reporter saw someone, possibly investigators, taking pictures of the blackened building. The interior of the building was clearly damaged by the fire.
The China Youth Daily reported on Wednesday that many family members lost contact with the patients after the fire, saying many of the patients were elderly people with limited mobility.
A police officer at the hospital told AFP on Wednesday that Beijing would “probably accommodate” the victims’ families properly.
Changfeng Hospital is located in the western suburbs of Beijing, about 25 minutes’ drive from Tiananmen Square.
Photos taken by a Reuters reporter at the Changfeng Hospital on the 19th
Tuesday’s tragedy was the worst fire accident in Beijing in 20 years. In 2002, a fire at an internet cafe in Beijing killed 25 students.
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In November last year, a factory in Henan caught fire, killing 38 people. The cause of the fire was believed to be illegal welding operations.
(AFP)
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