A tragic fire broke out in a high-rise building in Taiyuan, the capital of China’s northern Shanxi province, resulting in 14 deaths and numerous injuries.
The fire erupted on Sunday around 5:00 PM local time in a busy downtown area within the Yingze district’s Liuxiang subdistrict.
Video images circulated online and showed, smoke billowed over the 40-storey structure as firefighters poised on cranes outside fought flames that spread upward from a lower annex.
The structure is a mixed-use commercial and residential high-rise property housing apartments, hotels, short-term rentals, and tutoring centers.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the open flames by 7:00 PM, and search-and-rescue operations concluded by 8:30 PM.
According to state broadcaster reports, the blaze reportedly began around the fourth floor of a lower annex before spreading upward to higher levels housing a hotel.
Causalities:
A total of 38 people were rushed to hospitals following the incident. While the initial death toll was reported at five, it rose to 14 by Monday morning.
As of the latest updates, 25 people remain hospitalized, with nine individuals sustaining serious injuries.
Local authorities have launched an official investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.
