21 Apr 12 people detained over Beijing hospital fire

Following the recent devastating Beijing hospital fire that killed 29 people, Chinese authorities have detained a dozen people.

These 12 detainees include the Hospital Director and a number of individuals responsible for the renovation of the facility.

Individuals being arrested and a fire of this nature demonstrates the need for proper safety protocol and building material care.

Zhao Yang from the Beijing Fire Brigade commented on the cause of the fire as: “Sparks generated during the internal renovation and construction of the inpatient department of the hospital. [The sparks] ignited volatile elements of the flammable paint on the site.”

Regulations must be implemented and furthermore, treated with importance, especially during construction work being done.

Construction work often includes sparks, chemicals and dangerous equipment which when treated with improper care can result in fires, explosions and other life-threatening events.

The Beijing Party Secretary, Yin Li, vowed to “quickly identify the cause of the accents and hold the relevant persons accountable”, according to the Beijing Daily.

Fires are more common in China than other Asian countries due to weak safety standards and lax regulation enforcement.

Tuesday’s tragedy was the deadliest in the Chinese capital since a fire in an internet café in 2002 which killed 25 students.

Many factors go into creating a safe fire-proof environment, including that of safe building material.