(Beijing) A fire at a hospital in Beijing’s Fengtai district has killed 21 people, the official newspaper of the Chinese capital’s Communist Party, the Beijing Daily, reported on Tuesday.
The alert of a fire starting at Changfeng Hospital was given shortly before 1 a.m. and the disaster was put out half an hour later, while the emergency services evacuated 71 patients during the following two hours. according to the newspaper.
The death toll as of 6 a.m. was 21, Beijing Daily wrote, adding that an investigation is underway into “the cause of the crash.”
Images of people seeking shelter from the flames sitting on outdoor air conditioning units or clinging to ropes before jumping from the building that houses the hospital have been circulating on social media.
The number of dead could not be confirmed until these people were urgently evacuated to another hospital, explained the Beijing Daily, which does not give its name.
No information was immediately given on the condition of those injured in the fire.
Changfeng Hospital is located in the west of the capital, about 25 minutes by car from Tiananmen Square.
