China: Deadly Fire Engulfs Karaoke Lounge, 18 Dead 5 Injured, Arson Suspected!

Beijing, April 24: Fire engulfed a karaoke lounge in Southern China today, killing 18 people and injuring another five, as per the state media and police reports. The blaze happened after midnight in a three-storey building in Qingyuan City, Guangdong province, and was put out shortly before 1:00 am local time.On the preliminary investigation, it is suspected that the fire is caused due to arson, as reported by Qingyuan public security department on its Weibo social media account.

Deadly fires are very common is China as fire safety rules are often flouted in the country. This is not the first time that such a deadly thing has happened in the country. According to reports, Chinese courts last year jailed 21 people including firefighters and government staff over a fire at a nursing home that killed 38 elderly people at the privately-owned home in central Henan province in 2015. On further probe behind the fire, as per reports, it was found that, there were poorly-designed fire exits, safety checks, fire and electricity management, and the emergency response system were all found lacking.

Last year, an inferno broke out in Beijing's southern Daxing district Sunday, killing 19 people and eight were injured in it. According to a New York Times report, post the fatal fire, government forced people to vacate from buildings deemed to be dangerous or illegal, sometimes with just a few hours’ notice, before homes, shops and even whole factories were demolished. While, the government cited safety of the people as a reason, but migrants felt that the government was using fire as an excuse to drive them out and ease pressures in a city whose population has already crossed 20 million people.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 24, 2018 08:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).