Thursday, July 18, 2024 - At least 16 persons have been killed in a fire outbreak at a shopping mall in the southwestern Chinese city of Zigong, state media reported on Thursday, July 18.
Firefighters and rescuers responded to a fire call shortly
after 6 pm on Wednesday, July 17, at the 14-storey commercial building, and
pulled 75 people to safety, according to the official news agency, Xinhua.
It was not immediately known what caused the fire or how
many people were in the building when it broke out.
The building accommodates a department store, offices,
restaurants, and a movie theater.
Social media video posts showed clouds of thick black smoke
coming from the windows on the building’s lower levels and engulfing the entire
14-storey structure as they rose into the sky.
About 30 people were rescued from the blaze after nearly 300
emergency workers and dozens of vehicles were dispatched from the local fire
department to the scene, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Local media said firefighters also used several drones to
combat the raging inferno.
A spokesperson for the National Fire and Rescue
Administration, Li Wanfeng said fire hazards remain the problem in China, which
reported 947 fatalities in the first few months of 2024, ending on May 20, up
19% from the same period of the previous year.
Li said the number of fire incidents in public places such
as hotels and restaurants rose by 40% and that the most common causes were
malfunctioning electrical or gas lines and carelessness.
Watch the video below.
Fire at a shopping mall in China's Zigong kills 16 & dozens trapped. I'm sure it was just a simple case of "construction work" gone wrong & had nothing to do w/ their lax safety standards. 947 fire deaths in 6 months China, wake up to your negligence.@HKokbore @yuceltanay53 @93ip pic.twitter.com/CXjNd6zUIr
— Yen- Ting (@YenTing39) July 18, 2024
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