TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fire that broke out at a hospital in Beijing has killed 29 people, but posts about the blaze were censored from social media and state-run media did not report on the fire until eight hours later.
According to China's state-run news outlets, the Fire and Rescue Brigade of Fengtai District at 12:57 p.m. on Wednesday (April 18) received a report that a fire had broken out in the inpatient department of Changfeng Hospital, in Fengtai. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at around 1:33 p.m. and rescue efforts ended two hours later with 29 reported dead and the cause of the fire under investigation.
Although the fire broke out just before 1 p.m., Chinese state-run media such as the Beijing Daily and CCTV did not announce the fire had taken place until 9 p.m. on Wednesday. These initial reports were scant on information about the blaze.
An individual climbs out of window with bedsheets, people run onto roof. (Weibo screenshots)
Before media reported the fire, several short videos circulated on social media, showing black smoke billowing from the hospital building and people trying to escape by climbing out of the windows. However, the videos were quickly deleted and discussions about them were censored.
According to Chinese media outlet Dingduan Xinwen (頂端新聞, Top News), some family members of the patients did not learn of the fire until they saw the news later that night, nor did they receive notification about the inferno from the hospital.
People sit on air conditioners to take shelter from fire. (Weibo screenshot)
Commenting on the censorship of social media, Eric Liu (劉力朋), an analyst at China Digital Times, posted a tweet saying: "The standard of censorship has reached a new high. In the past, it was only during the Two Sessions (National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) and during the Spring Festival that reports were not allowed."
The last time a fire in China captured national attention was in late November when an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, killed at least 10 people. It was reported the fire was not extinguished quickly because COVID measures hindered firefighting efforts.
Exterior of building after fire. (Weibo image)
In response to public outrage over the handling of the fire in Urumqi, officials tightened online censorship. "White Paper Protests" soon broke out in many major cities in China with people taking to the streets and holding sheets of paper to express their opposition to epidemic prevention measures and censorship.
Exterior of building after fire. (Weibo image)
Investigators inspect a burnt corridor on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (AP photo)
A big fire took place in Beijing Changfeng Hospital earlier local time today, killed 21 ppl. In addition to the shocking number of casualties, more scary reality is zero clue of the fire was made to the press - videos, mentions, chat post, nothing. Not a press coverage existed 1) pic.twitter.com/NvBnSyp19Y
— Vivian Wu (@vivianwubeijing) April 18, 2023
29 people, mostly patients, died in the terrible hospital fire in Beijing's Fengtai District on April 18. According to preliminary investigation, the fire was caused by sparks from renovation and construction work inside the hospital. The hospital director has now been detained. pic.twitter.com/ovfrBsFl3S
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) April 19, 2023
Communist #china's capital, Beijing Changfeng Hospital massive fire broke out & killed a whopping 21. Hospital sprinkler system fail to put out the fire, many doctors & nurses escaped w/o patients. https://t.co/huJeJ8HLCe pic.twitter.com/qb6HSjlhHh
— Northrop Gundam (@GundamNorthrop) April 18, 2023
21 people died in a fire at Changfeng Hospital (长峰医院) in Beijing’s Fengtai District on Apr 18… https://t.co/zeVsgrZmZM pic.twitter.com/H3N6XV13I4
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) April 18, 2023
审查尺度又创新高了，以前只是两会和春节期间不让报。 pic.twitter.com/QsxWRMTb1P
— Eric Liu 刘力朋 (@EricLiu_USA) April 18, 2023
