City-wide checks after 19 die in fire at Beijing apartment
Print Edition
CAI Qi, Beijing’s Party chief, has ordered a 40-day city-wide safety check after a deadly fire killed 19 people and injured eight others.
The fire broke out on Saturday evening at a three-story apartment at Xinjian Village in the city’s Daxing District. Seven of the eight people sent to hospital are now out of danger.
A preliminary investigation showed there was a refrigeration facility in the basement of the apartment, where the fire likely started, according to firefighters.
There was heavy smoke in the building but no large flames, they said.
Cai Qi and Chen Jining, the city’s acting mayor, led other officials to the site of the fire yesterday morning and stood in silent tribute to the dead.
“Lessons of the fire is extremely grave. The city must be on high alert. We must take actions and protect people’s lives and safeguard the safety and stability of the capital,” Cai said at a meeting in the afternoon.
Cai ordered a clean-up of industrial compounds, illegal construction and disorderly venues in order to eliminate fire risks. The clean-up work starts today.
He urged local officials to check every village and every courtyard for security risks.
An investigation team has been set up to ascertain the cause of the fire, and those held accountable will be punished.
Ye Changlong, a 27-year-old garment factory worker who lived on the third floor of the burnt apartment building, said he could have been the last one to have escaped.
“I was taking an afternoon nap in my room and slept through until around 6:40pm. My dog kept barking and woke me up. Then I smelled the pungent smoke and realized there must be a fire,” Ye said.
“I did not have time to find my pants. Jumping out of the bed, I took my dog, grabbed a coat and stepped into my slippers before running all the way downstairs. There was heavy smoke in the stairway, so I could not breathe or make out the direction. When I finally made my way down to the yard, where many people were already standing. They were all tenants like me.”
Other witnesses said there was no time to rescue neighbors before they were engulfed by heavy smoke.
Ye, from east China’s Zhejiang Province, and his wife worked in the same garment factory in Daxing. The couple rented their apartment at a monthly cost of 600 yuan (US$91) about six months ago. About 50 people lived on the third floor, he said.
“My company will move to Tangshan (in Hebei Province) next year. This apartment building is also about to be demolished, but it was burnt at the last minute,” he said.
After a call about the fire at 6:15pm on Saturday, 14 fire teams and 34 fire engines attended. The fire was put out in about three hours.
Daxing officials say they have contacted 25 family members of the victims and set up working groups to deal with the aftermath of the fire.
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