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2ND LD: 309 people killed in fire in Luoyang, China+

Asian Economic News, Jan 1, 2001

BEIJING, Dec. 27 Kyodo

(EDS: CONFIRMING DEATH TOLL, UPDATING WITH COMMENTS ON CAUSE OF FIRE)

A deadly fire engulfed a six-story commercial building in the city of Luoyang in central China on Christmas night, killing 309 people, most of them customers at a dance hall inside the building, local officials and the Chinese state media said Tuesday.

An official from Luoyang's general information office told Kyodo News that the fire apparently broke out at a construction site in the second-floor basement of the Dongdu Commercial Building where workmen were preparing for the grand opening of a new shop.

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The blaze then spread upward, trapping more than 200 patrons of a fourth-floor dance hall, he said. The other victims were mostly construction workers.

Seven people were injured in the blaze, which burned for three hours before it was brought under control before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said most of the victims were trapped in the dance hall where they were attending a Christmas party and died as a result of inhaling smoke.

Firefighters rescued a number of people from the roof of the building, while some people jumped from the sixth floor to safety mats spread outside the building.

Xinhua said the Chinese government has set up a task force consisting of officials of the State Economic and Trade Commission's Bureau of Work Safety and the Ministry of Public Security to investigate the fire.

The investigative team, led by the commission's Vice Minister Shi Wanpeng, arrived at the site of the fire Tuesday afternoon, the agency said.

The Luoyang fire was the latest of a series of major fires at commercial buildings in China this year.

According to the State Economic and Trade Commission, 15 major fires each resulting in the death of more than 10 people broke out at hotels, restaurants and other commercial buildings during the first half of this year.

2ND LD: 309 people killed in fire in Luoyang, China+

Asian Economic News, Jan 1, 2001

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