21 patients killed in hospital by fire. According to a media report an investigation has begun after a fire ripped through a hospital in China’s capital Beijing, killing at least 21 patients who were in the facility.
Emergency response teams received information before 1 pm that a fire had broken out at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital in the capital city’s Fengtai District.
The fire was extinguished half an hour later and rescue efforts continued for another two hours by that time 71 patients had been evacuated. 21 patients killed in hospital by fire.
Videos were circulating on social media yesterday showing people sitting on external air conditioning units, while others clinging to ropes jumped from the building.
The videos could not be ratified independently, but AFP has geolocated the building in the footage to the hospital.
The death toll stood at 21 as of Wednesday morning, the newspaper said.
No further details were available on the number of injuries suffered in the fire or the condition of the victims.
According to Beijing daily, top city officials visited the hospital shortly after the fire to find out the cause of the accident and hold the relevant responsible persons accountable.
AFP journalists on Wednesday saw dozens of onlookers outside the entrance to the hospital, where a large number of police officers were stationed, discouraging people from taking photos.
Some of the hospital’s windows appeared blackened and at least one was broken, with soot marks visible on parts of the facade.
It was not immediately clear if all the occupants of the hospitalhospital had been found and evacuated from the fire, which was in the east building of the private hospital’s inpatient department.
The deaths were confirmed after the victims were taken to another unidentified hospital for emergency treatment, the Beijing Daily report said.
Many family members have lost contact with patients, with the missing being mostly older people with mobility problems, the China Youth Daily said in a separate report on Wednesday.
A police officer on the scene on Wednesday told AFP the city “will probably make the appropriate arrangements” to take care of victims’ relatives.
