21 dead in Beijing hospital fire, dozens of patients evacuated
BEIJING – At least 21 people died when a fire tore through a hospital admissions building in Beijing past noon on Tuesday, according to the China Daily.
The newspaper reported that the fire started at the east building of Beijing Changfeng Hospital’s in-patient department at around 12.50pm. Over 71 patients at the building were displaced, it said.
Videos of the fire circulating on social media showed black smoke billowing from the building.
Some people could be seen climbing out of the windows using what appeared to be makeshift ropes made using bedsheets. Others took refuge on air-conditioning units outside the windows.
“It’s tragic. I can see the accident from the window of my house. A lot of people were standing on the air-conditioning unit at noon, and some even jumped off,” a witness posted on the Twitter-like Weibo micro-blogging site.
It was not immediately clear if all the occupants of the hospital had been found and evacuated to safety.
The deaths were confirmed after the victims were taken to another unidentified hospital for emergency treatment.
The fire was extinguished at 1.33pm and rescue efforts were completed by 3.30pm, according to the Dimsum Daily online news site.
It reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered “all-out efforts” to tend to those injured and urged the authorities to take measures to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Further details were not available on the number of people who suffered injuries in the fire or their condition.
Beijing Changfeng Hospital is in the Chinese capital’s western urban area, about 25 minutes by car from central Tiananmen Square.
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