Fires kill over 70 in China during Spring Festival

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-02 18:43

BEIJING -- China saw more than 15,600 fires across the country during the Spring Festival, which killed at least 70 people and led to direct losses worth 43 million yuan (US$6.14 million), the Ministry of Public Security said Monday.

A man carries incense sticks as he prays to the God of Fortune in Wuhan city, central China's Hubei province Friday, Jan. 30, 2009. China saw more than 15,600 fires across the country during the Spring Festival, which killed at least 70 people and led to direct losses worth 43 million yuan. [Agencies]

The fires killed 55 people and injured 29 people from January 25 to the noon of January 31, and the number of deaths dropped by 6.8 percent compared with that of the previous Spring Festival, the ministry said in a report on its website.

However, the death toll did not include the 15 people killed in a bar fire on the night of January 31 in Fujian Province, because the deadline for the statistics is 12:00 p.m. Saturday, said Guo Lin, spokeswomen with the ministry, in an interview with Xinhua Monday.

The fire count also did not include those taking place in forest, grassland and mines nor those in the military because they were not under the management of the fire department of the Ministry of Public Security.

February sees the largest number of residential fires in China, because the lunar new year usually falls on February, and fireworks count as a major reason for residential fires during this period.

In Beijing, fireworks had caused 75 fire accidents and injured 46 on Jan 25, the lunar new year's eve. The number of fire accidents was 17 percent lower than the same period last year, according to the Beijing Municipal Government.