12 people arrested after Beijing hospital fire that killed 29 people

Chinese authorities have said they have detained twelve people over a hospital fire in Beijing that left at least 29 dead and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape.

The fire, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon, April 18, at the Changfeng hospital in China’s capital, killed mostly patients, and left scores of other people injured.

Video showed people clinging to ropes and jumping from the building, while others perched on external air conditioning units to escape from the flames. The Fengtai district’s deputy mayor expressed his “deep condolences” over the deaths of the 16 women and 13 men killed in the fire, the deadliest in Beijing in more than two decades.

“We feel deep remorse and guilt,” Li Zongrong told journalists as he announced the toll at a press conference on Wednesday, April 19. “I hereby express our deep condolences for the victims, and express our sincere respects to the victims’ families, the injured and their relatives, and apologise to the people of the whole city,” he said.