Beijing Hospital Fire Kills 29, Authorities Withhold Victim Identities
The authorities are withholding the identities of 29 people who died in a fire in the inpatient department of Beijing Changfeng Hospital on April 18.
The fire broke out in the east building of the hospital’s inpatient department after midday. Authorities issued a notice at 9 a.m. the next day saying that 29 people died in the fire, of which 26 were patients, others were a nurse, a caretaker, and a family member of a patient.
A further 39 people were injured in the blaze, with three being in critical condition and 18 in severe condition. Seventy-one patients were transferred to other hospitals.
According to multiple mainland Chinese media outlets, officials kept the hospital fire a secret for eight hours until the evening of April 18. The patients’ families haven’t been notified about their loved one’s condition or whereabouts as of the publication of this article.
On the night of the fire, many patient family members asked the hospital for the death list, mainland Chinese media outlets reported.
More than 30 family members of the patients were waiting in front of the triage desk, asking about the patients’ whereabouts that night. Most of them had rushed to the hospital after learning of the fire and losing contact with their ill family members at the hospital.
A person told mainland Chinese media Times Media on April 19 that since the fire broke out, they still had not been able to see their family member, nor do they know of their family member’s situation.
Geriatric, Hospice Patients
The east building of the inpatient department that caught fire had eight floors.
A patient’s family member told China Youth Daily that the fire started on the fifth floor, and the flames went up.
The people on and above the fifth floor of the building where the fire broke out were mainly geriatric and hospice patients, according to mainland Chinese media Economic Observer Network.
A caretaker involved in the rescue said that after the fire broke out, some rooms in the east building were difficult to access. In addition, the elderly and critically ill patients with limited mobility were also harder to rescue.
A viral video on social media showed two people on the sixth and eighth floors escaping the fire by twisted white sheets as a rope hanging from windows.
Apology, Censorship
In an official notice issued on April 19, authorities stated that the fire was caused by sparks generated during construction work in the hospital’s inpatient department, which ignited flammable paint on the site.
The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau announced on April 19 that they arrested 12 people deemed responsible for the fire, including the president, the vice president, the director of the general affairs department of Beijing Changfeng Hospital, and the construction company’s head.
The case is under further investigation.
Beijing Changfeng Hospital has had a record of safety problems.
At a briefing on the fire on April 19, the deputy head of Fengtai District of Beijing apologized to the public; however, official media closed comments on related news.
Netizens posted on their social media accounts about the incident.
One post reads, “Is this an apology? He didn’t even dare to allow the public to comment.”
Another posted, “A single apology for dozens of lives lost.”
Another one called on the official, “Take the blame and resign!”
After the fire broke out at noon on April 18, the first official notice was not issued until after 8:30 pm that night. News of the fire was suppressed online, with pictures and videos quickly deleted from social media platforms.
Mr. Zhao, a resident of Fengtai District, told The Epoch Times police had surrounded the hospital.
“We were not allowed to approach the scene, and we were not allowed to take pictures. Everything was blocked, and the news was also blocked. There is very little information reaching outside,” he said.
Xiao Lusheng and Hong Ning contributed to this report.
