Beijing hospital fire kills 29 as people cling to air conditioning units

Footage shared on social media showed people trying to escape the fire

A hospital fire in Beijing has killed at least 29 people as patients were seen perching on outdoor air conditioning units and climbing out of windows with makeshift ropes made of bedsheets.

All but three of the 29 dead were patients, officials told a media briefing on Wednesday, with the fire having been put out in half an hour.

A nurse, a medical assistant and a family member also died in the incident.

Chinese state media reported 71 patients were evacuated from Beijing Changfeng Hospital as a large black cloud billowed into the sky.

Videos on social media showed people trapped in the multistory building apparently tied bedsheets into makeshift ropes and escaped by climbing out windows.

Officials said rescue crews from around the city helped pluck 142 people from air conditioning units on the building's exterior.

The fire has now been extinguished. Credit: AP
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Early on Wednesday officials said 39 people who were injured in the fire were still in hospital, three in critical condition, and 18 serious.

Zhao Yang, deputy chief of the Beijing Fire Brigade, said the accident was caused by sparks generated from renovation and construction work at the inpatient department, according to initial investigations.

The sparks were then believed to have set fire to flammable paint, though the investigation continues.

12 people, including the head and deputy head of the hospital and the head of the construction crew, have been arrested over for "committing crimes of major liability accident."

There was a heavy police presence in the area on Tuesday. Credit: AP

Authorities are now investigating Beijing's deadliest fire since at least 2002, when a blaze at an internet cafe killed 25.

Safety rules are frequently ignored in China, but accidents on the level of the Changfeng fire are treated with a much higher level of scrutiny.

Construction accidents sometimes result from corners being cut on work hours and safety conditions, while local officials are bribed to ignore violations.

The central government has pledged stronger safety measures since an explosion in 2015 at a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers.

By Wednesday, many social media posts critical of the fire on the Chinese social media app WeChat had been either censored or deleted, according to Reuters.

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