Chinese authorities have said they have detained twelve people over a hospital fire in Beijing that left at least 29 dead and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape.
The fire, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon, April 18, at the Changfeng hospital in China’s capital, killed mostly patients, and left scores of other people injured.
Video showed people clinging to ropes and jumping from the building, while others perched on external air conditioning units to escape from the flames.
The Fengtai district’s deputy mayor expressed his “deep condolences” over the deaths of the 16 women and 13 men killed in the fire, the deadliest in Beijing in more than two decades.
“We feel deep remorse and guilt,” Li Zongrong told journalists as he announced the toll at a press conference on Wednesday, April 19.
“I hereby express our deep condolences for the victims, and express our sincere respects to the victims’ families, the injured and their relatives, and apologise to the people of the whole city,” he said.
Twelve people, including the hospital’s director, had been detained in connection with the fire, said Sun Haitao from Beijing’s public security bureau, adding that representatives from a company renovating the facility were among those being held.
A preliminary investigation revealed the fire had been caused by “sparks generated during the internal renovation and construction of the inpatient department of the hospital”, according to Zhao Yang from the city fire brigade.
The sparks “ignited the volatile elements of the flammable paint on the site”, Zhao said.
The state broadcaster CCTV reported that of those killed, 26 were patients at the hospital, two were hospital staff, and one was a patient’s family member.
The 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 about 1pm on Tuesday.
The 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.
On Wednesday, April 19, dozens of people were seen outside the entrance to the hospital.
Many family members had 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.
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