Grassland fire in southwest China kills 22

Grassland fire in southwest China kills 22

2010-12-06 08:38:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHENGDU, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- More than 20 people were killed and several others were injured when a fast-moving grassland fire broke out in southwest China on Sunday, state-run media reported on Monday.

The fire broke out at around noon local time on a plateau some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the county government seat in Daofu County of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze in Sichuan Province. Some 33 hectares of grassland was burned as of early Monday morning, while 13 hectares is still on fire.

"The fire line stretches several kilometers long," said Yang Hao, a senior firefighting official, in an interview with the state-run Xinhua news agency. "As it darkens at night, most fire-fighters have retreated to the camps. However, we are still closely monitoring the situation."

Xinhua said nearly two dozen people who were trying to put out the blaze were killed when they became trapped. It said 15 of the 22 fatalities were soldiers, while the others were identified as workers with the grassland administration and civilians. Three other people were seriously injured.

As of 3 p.m. local time on Sunday, authorities said the blaze was under control even though large areas were still on fire. About 2,000 people are assisting in fighting the blaze.

Governor Jiang ordered local officials to strengthen fire monitoring efforts and to avoid additional casualties, while ordering a thorough probe into the cause of the fire.

Sunday's fire is the deadliest disaster to hit the country since a massive fire at a skyscraper in Shanghai left 58 people killed. More than 70 others were injured, many who remain in hospital since the blaze on November 15.

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