China: 15 dead and dozens more injured in Nanjing flat fire
Local authorities in eastern China reported that a fire tore through an apartment building, resulting in the death of fifteen individuals and injuring over 40 others.
Footage circulated on social media depicted flames and thick black smoke engulfing multiple floors of a high-rise structure in Nanjing city.
Officials indicated that the fire originated on the first floor of the building, where electric bicycles were stored. However, the specific cause of the fire remained subject to investigation.
Situated in the Yuhuatai district of Nanjing, the building is located within a city of over eight million residents, approximately 162 miles (260km) northwest of Shanghai.
Emergency response teams were alerted to the blaze at 04:40 local time (20:40 GMT) on Friday, with officials confirming the incident on Saturday morning.
A deployment of twenty-five fire engines and 130 firefighters were dispatched to combat the fire. By 06:00 (22:00 GMT), the blaze had been extinguished, concluding the search and rescue operation by 14:00.
Of the 44 injured people sent to hospital for treatment, one is in critical condition and another seriously injured, the officials said.
At a press conference, Nanjing Mayor Chen Zhichang offered his condolences and apologies to the victims’ families.
Aerial photos of the skyscraper shared on Friday after the fire had been extinguished showed some flats up the length of the building with blackened fronts.
Fires and other deadly accidents often occur in China due to lax enforcement of safety standards.
A recent spate of deadly fires across the country prompted President Xi Jinping to call last month for “deep reflection” and greater efforts to “curb the frequent occurrence of safety accidents”.
The Nanjing fire comes a month after 13 schoolchildren, aged nine and 10, were killed after a fire broke out in a school dormitory in China’s Henan province.
Days later, at least 39 people were killed and nine injured in a fire that started in the basement of a shop in the city of Xinyu.
