At least 39 people were killed in China on Wednesday in a fire at a store located in the heart of Xinyu, a city in Jiangxi province. Nine others were injured, state media reported. This is a provisional assessment since other customers are “still stuck”, according to the television channel CCTV.
The fire broke out “in the basement of a store” around 6 p.m. (local time). The cause is not known at this time. We also don’t know how many people were inside.
A precedent five days earlier
CCTV footage shows several fire engines and other emergency response vehicles operating at the scene.
Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a call to order, “issuing important instructions demanding that the number of frequent accidents be resolutely limited”. This disaster comes just five days after a fire in a school in Henan province, in which 13 children died.