Beijing Forms A Special Team To Investigate Fire At Changfeng Hospital That Killed 21 People

Illustration of the building fire, illustration of the afternoon building fire. (ANTARA/Insan Faizin Mub)

JAKARTA - At least 21 people died as a result of Changfeng Hospital in Fengtai District, Beijing City, China caught fire on Tuesday, April 18. Firefighters in the capital received reports of a fire that hit the Changfeng Hospital inpatient building at 12.57 local time (11.57 WIB). Officers together with the police and medical personnel went straight to the location of the fire and the fire was successfully extinguished at 13.33 p.m. local time. Search efforts for the victims continued until 15.30 p.m. "Sebanyak 71 pasien lainnya sudah dievakuasi ke tempat aman," menurut laporan Beijing Daily dikutip via Antara, Rabu, 19 April. Video footage circulating on China's social media shows several jumping from the windows of the inpatient building, while others waiting for rescue workers to arrive in the alley where the room's temperature control engine is. Several more jumped from the building to a lower roof. The cause of the deadly fire is still under investigation. The Beijing City Government formed a special team to identify the cause of the fire as well as look for parties responsible for the incident to be prosecuted according to applicable law. As of 21.30 local time, the fire in the building had been extinguished, but the smell was still smelled. Traffic around hospitals has returned to normal and several police cars have been alerted along roads around the site, according to an official CNR broadcast media report. Changfeng Hospital is a private hospital established in 1985 and affiliated with Beijing Changfeng Hospital Corporation. In the first half of 2022, the hospital managed to record revenues of nearly 253 million yuan or around IDR 546.4 billion. The hospital has branches in Chengdu (Sichuan Province), Chongqing City, Guiyang (Gizhou Province), and Zhengzhou (Henan Province).