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Firefighters work at the scene of a department store fire in Zigong City, Sichuan Province, China, on July 17, 2024.
CNN
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Sixteen people were killed when a fire broke out at a shopping mall in southwest China on Wednesday, according to Chinese state media.
Shocking footage shows a huge column of black smoke rising from a 14-storey building in Zigong city, Sichuan province, with several people gathered on the balcony.
About 300 emergency personnel and dozens of vehicles from the local fire department were dispatched to the scene and around 30 people were rescued from the blaze, state broadcaster CCTV said.
CCTV quoted local authorities as saying preliminary investigations suggested the fire was caused by construction work.
Visual China Group/Getty Images
Rescue teams work at a fire scene in Zigong, China, on July 17, 2024.
China’s Ministry of Emergency Control, in a statement on Thursday, urged rescue workers and provincial authorities to determine the cause of the fire as soon as possible and learn lessons to ensure safety in the future.
Such accidents are not uncommon in China, where enforcement of safety standards is often lax.
In January, a fire broke out at a building complex in southeast China, killing at least 39 people, just days after a fire at a boarding school in the central province of Henan killed 13 children.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
