Beijing: A city official announced on Wednesday that there have now been 29 fatalities as a result of the hospital fire in Beijing, the capital of China.
On Tuesday, around 1 pm, a fire started at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital in the Fengtai District and was put out a little over 30 minutes later. Li Zongrong, the district's deputy mayor, offered his "deep condolences" while announcing the new toll at a press conference.
According to Sun Haitao of Beijing's public security bureau, the facility's director and 12 other people have been detained in relation to the fire. He also mentioned that people from the company renovating the hospital were among those being held.
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According to a preliminary investigation, which was reported by the state broadcaster CCTV, the fire was started by "sparks generated during the internal renovation and construction of the inpatient department of the hospital."
Apparently, the sparks "ignited the volatiles of the flammable paint on the site," according to CCTV. On Tuesday, videos of people sitting on outdoor air conditioners and hanging onto ropes as they jumped from the building were shared on social media.
16 women and 13 men were the victims, according to Li. "We feel deep remorse and guilt," he told journalists.
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I hereby offer our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased, the injured, and their loved ones, as well as our sincere respect and apology to the citizens of the entire city on behalf of the Fengtai district party committee and district government.
According to CCTV, of the 29 people who died, 26 were hospital patients, two were hospital employees, and one was a patient's relative. According to CCTV, 78 patients were still receiving care at the hospital and had been transferred to the west building.
State-run According to People's Daily, as of Wednesday morning, 39 patients with injuries were being treated in hospitals, and three more had been let go.
Shortly after the fire, senior city officials went to the hospital, and Beijing party secretary Yin Li promised to "quickly identify the cause of the accident and hold the relevant responsible persons accountable," according to the Beijing Daily. Soot marks could be seen on some of the hospital's windows, which appeared to be blackened, and on at least one broken window.
According to a separate report published on Wednesday by the China Youth Daily, many patients' families have lost touch with them, and the majority of those still missing are elderly people with mobility issues.
The city "will probably make the appropriate arrangements" to take care of the victims' relatives.
The Beijing Changfeng Hospital is situated about 25 minutes by car from Tiananmen Square in the western urban area of the capital. Due to lax safety regulations and enforcement, deadly fires are a common occurrence in China.
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Ten people perished in an apartment block fire in northwest Xinjiang in November, which sparked demonstrations against Covid-19 lockdowns that were held responsible for impeding rescue operations.
Additionally, 38 people perished in a factory fire in central China in November, which was also blamed on illegal welding by workers.