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Minutes of horror amid smoke, fire
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-02-16 23:27 "I was bathing and the light was suddenly cut off.
About one minute later, one bathhouse server ran in and cried `fire, fire.' At
once, everybody was overcome by panic and tried to get away,'' said Li Fumin,
who managed to escape from the Sunday fire in Northeast China's Jilin Province.
The fire, which is believed to be China's most
devastating accident so far this year, killed 53 people and injured 71 on
Sunday.
A victim of a fire
receives treatment at a hospital in Jilin City, in northeast China's Jilin
Province, February 15, 2004. [Reuters] |
"My wife and I went to the third floor's bathhouse for a bath. Many shoppers
were doing weekend shopping in the first and second floor's department store,''
said Li.
The fire engulfed the second floor when the couple discovered something was
wrong.
There was more and more smoke streaming into the room. People seemed to be
losing their minds, Li explained.
People ran from one place to another. But there was no way to get downstairs.
Many women even ran into the men's bathhouse, Li recalled.
"I managed to find my wife. The smoke became thicker and thicker. And I knew
it was dangerous to run aimlessly. So I decided to jump from the window,'' Li
said.
The couple smashed up the glass with one bamboo pillow and tied several bed
sheets together. Li first helped his wife and two kids slip down with the rope.
And then he himself got down.
But the bedspread-made rope broke apart when Li got only as far as the second
floor. He fell down the ground. But lucky enough, he survived with just
scratches.
"My God! Who knows you could come up against such a thing when you've just
gone bathing, '' said Li.
Unlike the Li family, not everybody managed to escape.
"We drove to the site at once when we received the call for help,'' said Liu
Gang, a firefighter from the city of Jilin in Northeast China's Jilin Province.
"Many people leapt from the windows of the fourth floor. Some died on the
ground. A lot of people were injured,'' Liu said.
Around 1:30 pm, Liu and his team members made their way into the flaming
building.
"I was horrified when I came into the fourth floor along the eastern
stairway; the house was entangled with bodies. The faces were black with soot,
with the mouths wide-open and noses still bleeding,'' Liu said, trembling. "I
can sense their suffering. It was really terrible.''
Seven firemen were injured in the building fire, bringing the injury toll to
77, the fire rescue headquarters said yesterday.
Of the seven, 22-year-old Sun Hongwei, injured his lower back and is the most
seriously hurt. He and his six colleagues -- who suffered from minor injuries
and smoke inhalation -- are being treated in hospital.
The headquarters also said 28 men and 25 women died, while 40 men and 37
women were injured. They are being treated in three separate hospitals in the
city.
Most of the bodies have been identified, and the headquarters had published a
list of 43 identified victims, most of whom were residents in the same
community.
Jilin Governor Hong Hu said yesterday governments at all levels should learn
from the accident and set up a special office to examine and supervise work
safety and fire control.
Two detained for deadly hut fire in Zhejiang
Another woman was confirmed dead Monday after Sunday's blaze at a simple
temple in Haining, East China's Zhejiang Province. Two suspects have been
detained, local police said.
The latest casualty brings the toll to 40 dead and 3 seriously injured, a
local senior official said.
All the injured are undergoing medical treatment at the local hospital.
The fire broke out at about 2:10 pm at a 60-square-metre thatched hut of the
Wufeng Village, where about 50 women aged between 40 and 80 were worshipping,
said Xu Hui, vice-mayor of Haining.
As many people rushed to get out through the only door, which was bamboo made
and measured 1.2 by 2 metres, the bamboo used to sustain the shed fell. Then the
thatched shed collapsed, which suffocated and killed most of the women who were
too weak and old to escape the blaze, said Xu.
The fire was put out half an hour later.
Chen Jianliang, the only man in the shed, was detained for building the hut
illegally, local police said. He presided over the rite the women were
observing.
Another three women, who helped Chen organize the so-called "Pu Tang Chan"
(to smooth people's path to the nether world after death) ritual have been
summoned, police said.
The women inside the burning building believed the seal of "Pu Tang Chan"
could protect them on the way to Hades. They each paid Chen 1 yuan (US$0.12)
after the rite, Xu said.
Xu said the hut was built on the location of a historic temple that was torn
down in the 1960's to build a school. The school was later demolished and some
villagers suggested rebuilding the temple.
"The accident has shown that the weak point of firefighting in our province
is in the countryside," said Chen Guopin, a senior official from Zhejiang
Province.
A special group has been established to investigate and deal with the
accident, said Chen.
Compensation for the dead villagers is still under discussion. There are
ongoing discussions as to who is responsible, Chen said.
None of them have life insurance.
The three injured women are still under observation and could soon be out of
danger, said a doctor at Haining Hospital who declined to give his
name.
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