In a tragic incident, at least 29 people have lost their lives in a fire that broke out at Beijing Changfeng hospital on Tuesday. According to reports, the fire occurred in the east wing of the inpatient department, which housed critically ill patients.
While emergency crews managed to rescue at least 71 patients, many others were left trapped in the multi-storey building. Videos circulating on social media showed people tying bedsheets into makeshift ropes to climb out of windows and escape, while others perched on air conditioning units on the exterior of the building.
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A spokesperson for the local government confirmed that 26 of the victims were hospital patients. Meanwhile, authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and have blocked access to the hospital.
Social media posts about the fire were either censored or deleted after circulating for a few hours on WeChat. However, one post that remains criticizes the hospital for boasting about its fire preparedness in a February article on its official WeChat account.