Hotel blaze in China leaves 10 dead
SHANGHAI: A fierce blaze at a hotel in eastern China killed 10 people, the official Xinhua news agency said in a post on its official microblog on Saturday.
The fire broke out on Saturday morning at the four-story HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in the inland city of Nanchang, the capital of China’s Jiangxi province, trapping people inside, including workers who were carrying out renovations on the building.
Over 260 residents of a 24-story apartment building connected to the hotel were evacuated.
Videos and photos on Chinese social media showed thick plumes of smoke billowing out the windows of the hotel building before rising in a towering plume. Dozens of fire trucks and rescue workers were present on the scene.
Xinhua said one person had been injured jumping from a second floor window to escape and had been taken to hospital.
Rescue work in the building was basically completed, said Xinhua, adding that initial probes suggested the cause of the fire was tools used to cut construction materials.
The news agency added seven people had been detained by police while investigations continued.
Photos showed firefighters shooting jets of water at smoking, cracked wall panels, and working in a team to lift a shirtless, unconscious victim from the wreckage. Three of 16 people rushed to hospitals died while in care, and firefighters found seven bodies amid the hotel debris.
The fire was caused by the “cutting of decoration materials,” Xinhua cited initial investigations as saying, without providing further detail. Seven people have been taken into police custody.