Nobody missing in Jilin hospital fire

No one was found missing in Thursday afternoon's hospital fire that left 39 persons dead in Liaoyuan City of Jilin Province, the city government said Friday night.

Rescuers have found the remains of 24 people at the scene of the fire. And 15 others died in failed emergency treatment after they were transferred to other hospitals, the government said.

The latest statistics offered the rescuers show that there werea total of 235 in-patients and 72 staff members in the hospital before the fire broke out.

Some 128 in-patients fled home by themselves, and 89 others jumped off the buildings and got injured, with 24 of them in serious conditions.

All the other in-patients and injured people have been transferred to other hospitals for further treatment.

The fire broke out at about 4:30 Thursday afternoon at the CityCentral Hospital and it was put out at 10:00 at night.

The fire burnt some 5,000 square meters of the four four-storied buildings, which are conjoined to form a square, in the largest hospital of Liaoyuan, about 120 km southwest of Changchun, capital of Jilin Province.

The first and second floor of the buildings, which was built in1947, serve as the outpatient department, and the third and fourthfloor as the in-patient department.

Initial investigation showed the fire started from the power distribution room, and further investigation is still underway.

Health Minister Gao Qiang who came to Liaoyuan Friday afternoonsaid the ministry will give top priority to the health of the injured and in-patients moved from the burnt hospital and urged local officials to do the utmost to save the people's lives.

More than 400 local citizens have offered to donate blood for the fire victims.

Earlier Thursday, the Ministry of Public Security said that from January to November, a total of 222,000 fires were reported in China, which left 2,048 people dead and 2,080 others injured, with direct economic losses valued at 1.23 billion yuan (152 million US dollars).

However, the figures represented a drop of 5.4 percent, 11.3 percent, 26 percent and 10.2 percent respectively, from the same period last year.

Source: Xinhua