Sixteen people have tragically lost their lives in a fire that engulfed a shopping center in Zigong, a city in southwestern China. The incident occurred on Wednesday evening, causing widespread devastation.
Firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after 6 PM and managed to rescue 75 individuals from the 14-storey commercial building, which houses a department store, offices, restaurants, and a movie theater, according to official reports from the Xinhua news agency.
As of now, the cause of the fire remains undetermined, and the total number of people inside the building at the time of the blaze is still unknown. Dramatic videos from the scene show thick black smoke billowing out of the lower floors, enveloping the entire structure as firefighters battled the flames with water sprays and drones.
This incident adds to a worrying trend in China, where fire-related fatalities have been on the rise. By May this year, the country reported 947 fire deaths, marking a 19 percent increase from the same period the previous year. Li Wanfeng, a spokesperson for the National Fire and Rescue Administration, noted that fires in public places, including hotels and restaurants, surged by 40 percent. Most of these fires have been attributed to electrical faults.
The Zigong shopping center fire highlights the urgent need for improved fire safety measures in public spaces across China to prevent such tragedies from recurring.
