On Tuesday, state media CCTV reported that a fire broke out in the inpatient department of Changfeng Hospital, located in China’s capital city, Beijing, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of at least 21 people.

Amateur video footage showed individuals attempting to escape the blaze by hanging from the building’s facade, CNN reported.

The fire started at approximately 1 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET), and 71 patients were successfully evacuated.

This incident marks one of the most deadly fires in recent years in Beijing, surpassing the death toll of a 2017 fire that occurred in a cramped two-story building in the city’s southern suburb of Daxing, which claimed the lives of 19 people.

Following the 2017 tragedy, authorities demolished numerous buildings in the neighborhood that were considered unsafe or illegal, displacing thousands of migrant workers from their homes and businesses.

Written by staff