Hospital fire kills 39 in Jilin
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-12-16 06:17

Witnesses said that some people leapt from the burning hospital buildings. It was not immediately clear whether those who jumped were among the dead.

"I saw people jumping out of the window and many of them got injured. I'm sorry I could not do anything to help," one witness was quoted as saying.

"It's so horrible to see so many people died in an instance," said another witness.

Wang Mingwen, a 43-year-old in-patient, called himself a lucky dog when recalling the mishap.

Wang and his wife were in a ward on the third floor when they heard cries about fires, the Xinhua report said.

"I immediately took up the quilt in my bed, tied one end to the heating pipe and threw the other end out of the window. Then I hurried my woman to descend with the quilt-turned rope. Butshe fell unfortunately down to the ground from the second floor and was seriously injured," said Wang who went down safely.

A total of 222,000 fires were reported in China from January to November, leading to 2,048 deaths, 2,080 injuries and a direct economic loss of 1.23 billion yuan (US$152 million)

An injured patient receives treatment at a hospital in Liaoyuan, Northeast China's Jilin Province December 15, 2005. [Xinhua] A woman cries at the news that her relative was killed in the hospital fire in Liaoyuan, northeast China's Jilin Province December 16, 2005. [newsphoto]