Official apologizes for hospital fire killing 39
By He Na (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-17 07:09

The Jilin provincial health department sent 34 medical workers on Thursday night to Liaoyuan to help with the rescue operation.

An injured patient receives treatment at a hospital in Liaoyuan, Northeast China's Jilin Province December 15, 2005. [Xinhua]

As the biggest hospital in the city, the four-storey Central Hospital has 568 beds. There were 235 patients in the hospital when the fire broke out.

Almost all of the hospital was destroyed by fire. The blaze was put out at 9:30 pm by about 200 firefighters. Fire engines from Changchun and nearby Yitong County also came to the rescue.

An initial investigation showed the fire started in a power room, local officials said. No further details were available.

Jilin Governor Wang Min and Party Secretary Wang Yunkun rushed to the scene along with senior officials from the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Health. Liu Jinguo, vice-minister of Public Security, said DNA testing would be used to identify the dead if necessary.

Meanwhile, more than 700 local residents offered to donate blood for the wounded.

"When I heard that the hospital was running short of blood, my husband immediately drove me to the city's blood centre," said laid-off worker Xu Dongping. "I would like to help."

An urgent notice issued on Friday by the Ministry of Public Security urged a nationwide fire control overhaul at hospitals, schools, theatres and shopping malls.

A number of accidents have occurred recently throughout the country, including coal mine blasts that claimed hundreds of lives and a major chemical spill that poisoned the Songhua River in Northeast China.

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]

(China Daily 12/17/2005 page1)