A total of 31 people were killed in two separate fires in China
on Wednesday, and 11 others were wounded.
The fire at the Mingdian Western-style Restaurant in Zhangmutou
town, Dongguan city in south China's Guangdong Province, killed 10 and injured
nine, officials with the Dongguan government said.
Firefighters extinguish
a fire which broke out at the Mingdian Western-style Restaurant in
Zhangmutou town, Dongguan city in south China's Guangdong Province
on December 12, 2007.
The fire was reported at 5:07 p.m. and was put out in 15 minutes
after spreading to more than 400 square meters, the officials said.
Police are investigating the cause of the blaze.
An apartment building in east China's Zhejiang Province caught on fire in the
morning to kill 21 people and severely injure two others.
Initial investigations found that sparks from an electrical wire
in the Duoduoxian flower shop on the first floor of the 28-story
Wenfu Mansion in Wenzhou City set wrapping paper and plastic flower
ablaze at about 8:20 a.m. and started the fire, government
officials told Xinhua late Wednesday night.
Smoke caused by the fire spread into a ballroom on the second
floor where about 200 people were dancing, most of whom escaped but
19 people were poisoned and suffocated to death.
Among the nine people who were in the flower shop, seven escaped
and two were killed.
The dead included 12 men and nine women, the officials said. Two
people had to jump from high to escape the fire and got injured.
One of them suffered from bone fracture.
The fire covered about 1,270 square meters and was put out at
about 11:00 a.m., said a spokesman with the city's fire-fighting
brigade.
Smoke billows from a
shop in an apartment building as firefighters try to extinguish the
fire in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, December 12, 2007.
The fire killed at least 21 people, and the cause of the disaster
is under investigation.
More than 200 fire fighters and 33 fire engines were dispatched
to extinguish the fire.
The bottom three floors of the building are used for commercial
purposes and the rest are used for residential apartments,
residents said.
Police are hunting for the owner of the flower shop who is
hiding. Authorities decided to freeze his bank accounts for the
compensation for the victims.
(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2007)
