A fire engulfed a skyscraper in the central Chinese city of Changsha on Friday, with authorities saying no victims have yet been found.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, the fire started in a 42-storey building that houses an office of the state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom.
“Thick smoke was billowing from the grounds and dozens of floors were burning fiercely,” CCTV reported.
The provincial fire brigade later said in a message on social media that “the fire has been extinguished for the time being and we have not yet discovered any victims”.
An early photo released by CCTV showed flames burning through the building and black smoke covering the sky.
An image shared on social media later appeared to show the flames extinguished as emergency services threw jets of water at the facade.
China Telecom said in a statement on social media: “Today around 4:30 PM, the fire at our communication tower No. 2 in Changsha was extinguished. No victims have been discovered yet and communication has not been interrupted.”
A video shared on social media showed dozens of people fleeing the building as burning debris fell from the upper floors.
Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, has a population of about 10 million people.
The 218-meter-tall building was completed in 2000 and is located near a main road, according to CCTV.
Deadly fires are common in China, where weak building code enforcement and rampant unauthorized construction can make it difficult for people to escape burning buildings.
State media reports say at least 15 people were killed and at least 25 injured in a fire at a warehouse in northeastern Jilin province in July last year.
Last month, 18 people died – most of them children – at a martial arts school in central Henan province, sparking a stir over fire safety standards.
Two more dozen people died in two fires in Beijing’s immigrant neighborhoods in 2017, while 58 people were killed when a massive blaze swept through a 28-story residential block in Shanghai in 2010.
Source: DN
