2023-04-20 08:25:24
A fire broke out at a hospital in Beijing, China’s capital, killing 29 people, but citizens are outraged by authorities’ censorship following a video of patients escaping by tying bed sheets was deleted from the Internet.
A fatal fire broke out on the followingnoon of the 18th in the ward of Changfeng Hospital, regarding 10 km west of Tiananmen Square, the heart of Beijing.
A total of 29 fire-related deaths occurred, including 26 elderly inpatients, 1 guardian, 1 nurse, and 1 caregiver. Of the 39 injured people being treated in hospitals, 21 are in serious condition, Beijing city officials said.
An official from the Beijing Fire Department said, “As a result of the first investigation, it is believed that the fire started when sparks from the construction process splashed on flammable materials.” The police arrested and investigated 12 people, including the director of the hospital and construction workers.
The fire broke out at around 12:57 p.m. on the 18th, and was extinguished at around 1:33 p.m. by firefighters who arrived.
Chinese netizens were outraged when the video of the dizzying fire was deleted from the Internet.
A video of patients evacuating from a smoky hospital room in a long line by tying bed sheets to the roof of a nearby building spread rapidly on Chinese social media platforms Weibo and WeChat, but was soon deleted. Some patients climbed onto the outdoor unit of the air conditioner and desperately appealed for rescue.
Users on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, said, “Hospitals have relatively stronger safety management and precautions, and Beijing is a first-tier city in China. How can such a large fire cause so many deaths?”
The user claimed that the Beijing hospital fire was reminiscent of a fire in Xinjiang last November. The fire that broke out in Xinjiang while the strict corona control policy was in place increased the damage due to the containment policy in which the door was chained, and spread to a nationwide ‘blank demonstration’. The fire in Xinjiang has become the starting point for strict quarantine policies to be eased and ‘zero corona’ to be transformed into ‘with corona’.
Even state-run journalist Hu Xijin became a victim of the censorship policy. He posted a post on Weibo criticizing the removal of his post, saying, “The authorities must trust the public,” and was also removed.
Reporter Yoon Chang-soo
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