11 killed in Heilongjiang nursing home fire
By Xu Chi |
July 27, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A NURSING home resident, furious because he thought someone had stolen his money, set fire to one of its buildings in northeastern China's Heilongjiang Province early yesterday, killing 11 people, including himself, and injuring two others.
Four officials in Heilongjiang's Hailun City have been sacked as a result of the incident.
Wang Wenhe, director and Party chief of the Hailun Civil Affairs Bureau, and his deputy, Zhang Shoulin, were removed from their posts and replaced by a vice mayor and another bureau deputy chief, according to a statement posted on the Hailun city government's website.
Also sacked were the nursing home's director Li Kezhi and deputy Li Yan.
They are being investigated by police and disciplinary authorities, according to the statement.
The fire-damaged nursing home has been cordoned off.
Police in Hailun said Wang Gui, 45, had become convinced that a fellow resident who lived next door had stolen 200 yuan (US$33) from him. Wang was sent to the home on April 1, 2010, after he suffered a stroke and no one offered to take care of him.
On Thursday, staff said Wang became angry as he told them of his suspicions. He flew into a rage, staff said, screaming at them and smashing windows.
Eventually, staff members, with the help of Wang's sister, managed to calm him down.
However, his anger erupted again late on Thursday night and he is believed to have set the home on fire early yesterday morning.
The blaze at the Hailun United Nursing Home for Seniors was spotted at around 1:15am and emergency services were alerted.
It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the blaze.
All the people who died were men and most of them were elderly, police said. The oldest victim was 87 years old. Wang was the youngest.
Two residents were slightly injured from inhaling smoke.
There were 32 people in the home's inpatient building where the fire broke out.
The facility has 450 beds but was housing only 283 residents at the time of the incident, mostly elderly villagers without income sources.
Four officials in Heilongjiang's Hailun City have been sacked as a result of the incident.
Wang Wenhe, director and Party chief of the Hailun Civil Affairs Bureau, and his deputy, Zhang Shoulin, were removed from their posts and replaced by a vice mayor and another bureau deputy chief, according to a statement posted on the Hailun city government's website.
Also sacked were the nursing home's director Li Kezhi and deputy Li Yan.
They are being investigated by police and disciplinary authorities, according to the statement.
The fire-damaged nursing home has been cordoned off.
Police in Hailun said Wang Gui, 45, had become convinced that a fellow resident who lived next door had stolen 200 yuan (US$33) from him. Wang was sent to the home on April 1, 2010, after he suffered a stroke and no one offered to take care of him.
On Thursday, staff said Wang became angry as he told them of his suspicions. He flew into a rage, staff said, screaming at them and smashing windows.
Eventually, staff members, with the help of Wang's sister, managed to calm him down.
However, his anger erupted again late on Thursday night and he is believed to have set the home on fire early yesterday morning.
The blaze at the Hailun United Nursing Home for Seniors was spotted at around 1:15am and emergency services were alerted.
It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the blaze.
All the people who died were men and most of them were elderly, police said. The oldest victim was 87 years old. Wang was the youngest.
Two residents were slightly injured from inhaling smoke.
There were 32 people in the home's inpatient building where the fire broke out.
The facility has 450 beds but was housing only 283 residents at the time of the incident, mostly elderly villagers without income sources.
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