Beijing: At least 17 people were
killed and 24 injured in a building fire Monday, China's state media reported, quoting local police.
The fire broke out about 1 am (1700 GMT yesterday)
in a four-story building in the Daxing district in the
capital's southern suburbs, the agency quoted police as
saying, adding that the blaze had been put out.
It gave no other details, such as what might have
caused the fire.
A woman official who answered the phone at the
local government headquarters in Jiugong town, where the fire
took place, said she could not confirm Xinhua's casualty
count, but added that an investigation had been launched.
Deadly fires are common in China and are typically
blamed on lax observation and enforcement of fire-safety
measures.
The government routinely orders nationwide safety
crackdowns after particularly deadly fires, but such disasters
continue to occur.
In November, a fire engulfed a high-rise apartment
building in Shanghai, leaving 58 people dead.
A preliminary investigation blamed that inferno on
careless work by unlicensed welders who ignited nylon netting
swathing the building, which was being renovated to improve
energy efficiency.
PTI
First Published: Monday, April 25, 2011, 09:28