Following a devastating fire in the basement of a building in Xinyu city, East China’s Jiangxi Province, which claimed 39 lives, local authorities have mandated the suspension of all off-campus training institutions. The incident, which occurred during an educational consulting training session, involved vocational college students among the casualties, prompting a thorough investigation, officials announced on Thursday.
The fire erupted in the building’s basement in the Yushui district on Wednesday afternoon, leading to a preliminary investigation revealing violations of construction regulations as the cause. Twelve individuals implicated in the incident have been detained by local authorities for investigation by the public security organ.
Responding to the emergency, the city’s fire brigade mobilized resources from 10 fire stations, deploying 20 fire trucks and 118 rescue personnel to the scene. By 6:20 pm on Wednesday, 48 individuals were rescued, with 39 declared dead, and nine receiving medical treatment. The blaze was successfully extinguished by 6:50 pm.
The affected building, still undergoing renovation, housed a store on the basement floor, a supermarket on the ground floor, a hotel, and a training institution on the upper floors. Eyewitnesses reported individuals jumping from second-floor windows, assisted by police officers.
Preliminary investigations revealed the fire originated in the basement during renovation work to install a cold storage facility. Unauthorized hot work by construction workers caused the fire, with thick smoke spreading to the second floor, trapping students attending educational consultancy training sessions and hotel guests.
This tragic incident occurred less than a week after a fire in a school dormitory in Nanyang, Henan Province, resulted in 13 fatalities.
Most of the victims in the Xinyu fire were students participating in a “college-to-university” training program and hotel guests. The Boyi training center, where the incident occurred, hosted various classrooms, including one with over 60 students attending a college advancement program. Reports indicate challenges in evacuation routes and accessibility of exits during the fire.
Xinyu’s mayor offered a public apology during a press conference, pledging full cooperation with the State Council’s investigation team. Negligent parties will be held strictly accountable according to laws and regulations.
The unauthorized hot work in the presence of flammable insulation materials highlights the need for strict training and qualifications for operators overseeing similar operations, according to Wang Hongwei, a professor from Renmin University of China’s school of public administration and policy. He also emphasized the importance of evacuation passages in constructions with cold storage facilities and suggested stricter supervision of densely populated training centers and boarding schools by relevant authorities. Additionally, Wang recommended third-party fire risk hazard screenings and the introduction of fire liability insurance to enhance fire prevention measures.