Fewer fire accidents reported in Spring Festival holiday

BEIJING, Feb. 10 -- China's emergency management authority said that the number of fire accidents dropped by nearly 20 percent during the week-long Spring Festival holiday ending Sunday.

From Monday to 6 p.m. Sunday, 9,660 fire cases were reported across the country, down 19.7 percent from the same period of last year, the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement.

Those accidents resulted in 47 deaths, down 7.8 percent from a year ago, and caused direct economic loss of 49.44 million yuan (7.37 million U.S. dollars), down 13.6 percent from a year earlier.

During the holiday, the ministry sent 31 working groups to local areas to oversee their fire-control efforts, the ministry said.

The Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year, is an important traditional festival for Chinese. It fell on Feb. 5 this year.