Chinese authorities said on Wednesday they had detained a dozen people over a hospital fire in Beijing that left at least 29 dead and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape.

The blaze, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon at the Changfeng Hospital in China’s capital, killed mostly patients, and left scores of other people injured.Dramatic footage posted to social media showed people clinging to ropes and jumping from the building, while others perched on external air conditioning units in a desperate bid to shelter from the flames.

The Fengtai district’s deputy mayor expressed his “deep condolences” over the deaths of the 16 women and 13 men killed in the inferno, the deadliest in Beijing in over two decades.“We feel deep remorse and guilt,” Li Zongrong told journalists as he announced the toll at a press conference on Wednesday.“I hereby express our deep condolences for the victims, and express our sincere respects to the victims’ families, the injured and their relatives, and apologise to the people of the whole city,” he said.

Twelve people, including the hospital’s director, have been detained in connection with the fire, said Sun Haitao from Beijing’s public security bureau, adding that representatives from a company renovating the facility were among those being held.

A preliminary probe revealed the blaze had been caused by “sparks generated during the internal renovation and construction of the inpatient department of the hospital”, according to Zhao Yang from the city fire brigade.
The sparks “ignited the volatile elements of the flammable paint on the site”, Zhao said.
Beijing (AFP), 19 April, 2023