Twenty-six people have died and dozens hospitalized after a fire tore through a building in northern China’s Shanxi province on Thursday, state media reported.
The fire started at a four-storey building belonging to the Yongju coal company in Luliang city at around 6:50 am local time (2250 GMT on Wednesday), state media said, citing local authorities.
Twenty-six people were confirmed dead, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Earlier, broadcaster CCTV said that 63 people had been evacuated from the site, 51 of whom were hospitalised. The reports did not say if any of those taken to hospital had died.
CCTV reported that the fire had been “brought under control” and that its cause was still under investigation.
Reacting to the incident, Chinese leader Xi Jinping who is currently in the United States for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, said there was an “extremely profound lesson” to be learned from the fire.
Local governments must “conduct in-depth investigations of hidden risks in key industries, improve emergency plans and prevention measures”, he said, according to CCTV.
Xi called for “all efforts” to treat the injured as well as investigate who was responsible for the fire.
Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.AFP