Relatives, colleagues and residents gathered in a county in central China on the weekend to pay tribute to six firefighters who died after putting out a blaze during the Chinese New Year holidays.
The firefighters were killed on Thursday afternoon when their truck ran off a cliff in Xinhua county, Hunan province, as they were returning from extinguishing a house fire in the hills.
A seventh firefighter in the truck was injured and transferred to a hospital in the capital city of Changsha that evening for further treatment, according to local media reports. The condition of the 29-year-old was reported to be stable before the transfer.
Advertisement
The men were among 10 or so firefighters sent in two vehicles to the scene of the burning timber home along a winding hillside road.
After putting out the blaze, which started at about 1pm, the crew were driving back down the road. One truck went over the edge as it was about to reach the main road at the foot of the mountain, according to media reports.
Advertisement
The crash occurred about 2km (1.2 miles) from the fire site and on a steep section of the hillside road, the reports said.
