Building fire in southeast China kills nearly 40

BEIJING: A fire broke out in a commercial building in China’s southeastern Jiangxi province on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people and injuring nine others, state media reported.

Officials in the Yushui district of Jiangxi’s Xinyu City said the fire broke out in the building’s basement in the afternoon. Rescue workers, firefighters and police, as well as local government officials, were deployed to the scene.

A preliminary investigation found that the fire was caused by unauthorized welding during construction work in the basement, local officials said.

State broadcaster China Central Television later reported that rescue operations were complete and that no people remained trapped in the building, which it said housed an internet café in the basement and tutoring centers on the upper floors.

Some vocational school students were among the dead, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, adding that 12 people had been placed in custody and were being investigated.

In a statement, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the blaze was yet another safety tragedy, and called on the government and the Communist Party to “resolutely curb the frequent occurrence of various safety accidents, and ensure the safety of people’s lives and property and overall social stability.”

The statement included orders for the State Council’s Work Safety Committee to close any gaps in safety measures.

The local government said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

The blaze came less than a week after a fire broke out at a boarding school dormitory in central Henan province, killing 13 children.

Fires are common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.

Last November, 26 people died and dozens were sent to the hospital after a fire at a coal company office in northern Shanxi province.

And last April, a hospital fire in the capital Beijing killed 29 people and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape.