Twelve people, including the hospital director and the head of a construction company, have been detained by China’s Public Security Bureau for a “crime of major liability accident”, as the investigation continues.
A preliminary investigation showed that flammable paint supplies had been ignited by sparks during renovation work at an inpatient department, officials said.
Emergency crews were called to Beijing’s Changfeng hospital in the city’s Fengtai district just before 1pm on Tuesday.
The fire was put out in half an hour with rescue work completed by 3.30pm, officials said. Seventy-one people were evacuated.
A fire in 2017 killed 19 people when a building in Beijing’s Daxing district that had been converted into tiny flats caught fire.
More to come …
