Mall blaze kills 19 and injures 27
Source: Xinhua |
November 8, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A FIRE that broke out in a shopping mall in the northeast Jilin Province lasted 12 hours, leaving at least 19 people dead and 27 injured in the country's worst fire since 2009, government officials said on Saturday.
The deadly fire was like a wake-up alarm to fire departments throughout the country just four days before the national Fire Prevention Day, and has prompted a nationwide campaign to stamp out fire threats during this dry and windy winter season.
The mall rescue operation ended at 8:30am on Saturday, nearly 24 hours after the fire broke out at Jilin Commercial Building on Hunchun Road in the city of Jilin in the province, Liu Qizhi, a government spokesman, told reporters. Further, Liu said 24 of the 27 injured remain hospitalized but in stable condition.
On Saturday, officials expressed relief over news that more than 80 older women who were trapped in the blaze managed to escape unharmed.
Zhang Liying, one of the women, said they were participating in their usual morning dancing group on the mall's fifth floor when the fire broke out.
"We saw flames and thick black smoke surge from downstairs. We called the firemen, told them where we were, and then climbed out of the window to the balcony, one by one," Zhang said.
After being rescued, some of the women tearfully hugged each other following their near-death escape.
Businesses started to reopen on Hunchun Road on Saturday night while insurers and store owners began assessing their losses.
Work crews are still combing the ruins of the five-story shopping mall, built in 1987, to determine the cause of the fire. Also, officials report that the complex's general manager has been detained for questioning.
An initial investigation points to the fire originating on the mall's first floor, where home appliances and cosmetic products are sold, but soon spread to the fifth floor. Clothes, bed covers, quilts and other highly flammable goods were on display from the second to fourth floors.
Following the fire, the Ministry of Public Security issued a circular ordering fire departments across the country to learn from the incident and stay on high alert.
The deadly fire was like a wake-up alarm to fire departments throughout the country just four days before the national Fire Prevention Day, and has prompted a nationwide campaign to stamp out fire threats during this dry and windy winter season.
The mall rescue operation ended at 8:30am on Saturday, nearly 24 hours after the fire broke out at Jilin Commercial Building on Hunchun Road in the city of Jilin in the province, Liu Qizhi, a government spokesman, told reporters. Further, Liu said 24 of the 27 injured remain hospitalized but in stable condition.
On Saturday, officials expressed relief over news that more than 80 older women who were trapped in the blaze managed to escape unharmed.
Zhang Liying, one of the women, said they were participating in their usual morning dancing group on the mall's fifth floor when the fire broke out.
"We saw flames and thick black smoke surge from downstairs. We called the firemen, told them where we were, and then climbed out of the window to the balcony, one by one," Zhang said.
After being rescued, some of the women tearfully hugged each other following their near-death escape.
Businesses started to reopen on Hunchun Road on Saturday night while insurers and store owners began assessing their losses.
Work crews are still combing the ruins of the five-story shopping mall, built in 1987, to determine the cause of the fire. Also, officials report that the complex's general manager has been detained for questioning.
An initial investigation points to the fire originating on the mall's first floor, where home appliances and cosmetic products are sold, but soon spread to the fifth floor. Clothes, bed covers, quilts and other highly flammable goods were on display from the second to fourth floors.
Following the fire, the Ministry of Public Security issued a circular ordering fire departments across the country to learn from the incident and stay on high alert.
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