The People’s Government of Beijing Municipality said in a press conference yesterday (19 April) that at least 29 people have been killed in a huge fire that broke out at a hospital in Beijing, China on 18 April.
According to Beijing Daily, the Fire and Rescue Brigade of the Fengtai District had received a call for help on 18 April at about 12.57pm in the afternoon, relating to a fire that broke out on the east wing of the Changfeng Hospital.
Firefighters and rescuers were subsequently deployed to the scene and the fire was eventually put out at about 1.33pm.
Videos of the fire also circulated on Chinese social media platform Weibo, showing people escaping from the burning building by climbing out of the windows and hanging outside for their lives.
The authorities’ initial report stated that 71 hospital patients were evacuated from the scene and transferred to another hospital, but they later updated the number to 142 people, including the medical staff and family members of the patients.
Later that day, the authorities announced that 21 people were pronounced dead upon being transferred to the other hospital, with the death toll since rising to 29 as of 9am yesterday (19 April).
Global Times reported that a team has since been put together to investigate the cause of the accident, with the authorities stating that the fire might’ve been caused by renovation works at the hospital.
The leadership of the hospital were among 12 people who have since been detained, with the party secretary of Beijing, Yin Li, saying that those who are responsible will be held accountable for their actions that led to the tragedy.
The authorities have also ordered all the districts to get rid of any potential safety hazards to prevent similar accidents from happening, citing the upcoming May Day holidays.
Following the fire, as of 18 April 9.30pm, a burning smell continued to linger in the air outside the hospital, but other than that, the traffic in the vicinity has since returned to normal, save for a few police vehicles that were stopped along the road in the vicinity of the hospital.
At the moment, only the relatives of the patients of the hospital are allowed to enter, and they have stopped accepting new patients into the hospital.