Sixteen people have been killed in a fire at a shopping mall in the southwestern Chinese city of Zigong, according to Chinese state media.
BEIJING — A fire broke out at a shopping mall in the southwestern Chinese city of Zigong on Wednesday, killing 16 people, state media reported.
Firefighters and rescue teams responded to a report of a blaze at the 14-storey commercial building just after 6pm and pulled 75 people to safety, state news agency Xinhua said.
Rescue efforts are continuing. It was not immediately clear what the cause of the fire was or how many people were inside the building when it started. The building houses a department store, offices, restaurants and a cinema.
Videos posted on social media showed thick, black smoke billowing from windows on the building’s lower floors, engulfing the entire 14-storey building. Huge flames were visible as firefighters used water cannons to extinguish the blaze, including using several drones, local media reported.
Fire danger remains a problem in China, with 947 fire deaths in the months to May 20 this year, up 19 percent from the same period last year, said Li Wanfeng, spokesman for the State Administration of Fire and Rescue.
Li said the number of fires in public places such as hotels and restaurants had increased by 40 percent, with the most common causes being faulty electrical or gas pipes and carelessness.
In January, a fire broke out in a commercial building in southeastern China’s Jiangxi province, killing 39 people, and was traced to unlicensed welding in the basement.
In February, a further 15 people were killed when a fire broke out in a car park attached to a residential building in the eastern city of Nanjing, where electric bikes were stored.
