Government extends Fire Prevention Day in wake of blaze

BEIJING - The Ministry of Public Security has ordered fire departments across China to conduct intensive firefighting drills in densely populated places in the wake of the country's worst fire since 2009.

The directive came ahead of the Fire Prevention Day, which falls on Nov 9, just days after a massive blaze ripped through a shopping mall in Northeast China's Jilin city in Jilin province, claiming 19 lives and injuring 27 others before some 360 firefighters put it out 12 hours later.

The fire bureau under the Ministry of Public Security has asked local authorities to make the Fire Prevention Day the "theme for the week or even the month".