(CTN News) – There were at least sixteen individuals who lost their lives as a result of a fire that broke out at a shopping mall in the southwestern area of China, as reported by the official media.

It was a fire that started at the shopping center that was the cause of the fire. Wednesday evening in the city of Zigong, which is located in the province of Sichuan, a fire broke out in a business building that was fourteen floors tall.

The building was constructed for commercial purposes. China was the location of the structure, which was identified. We received this information from the news agency Xinhua, which is the source of the information.

The firefighters maintained their work at the location where the victim was standing into the early hours of Thursday morning. They were there till the very end of the night.

Firefighters and rescue teams rescued 75 people.

The state-owned television network CCTV reported that the fire started at the bottom of the building, which has a department store, offices, restaurants, and a movie theater.

The structure also houses a department store. It is also important to note that the building served as the location of the movie theater that was situated there.

Despite the fact that a preliminary inquiry had determined that construction activity was the cause of the incident, the authorities were indicating that a more in-depth examination to determine the specific reason for the occurrence was still in the process of being carried out.

Despite the fact that it was determined that building operations were the cause of the catastrophe, this was the situation that occurred.

Large clouds of dark smoke could be seen rising into the sky from the windows of the lower levels of the structure as the incident was taking place.

The smoke clouds were photographed and uploaded to a number of different social media networks after being captured on camera. As they continued to accumulate, the clouds of smoke that were rising into the sky encompassed the entire structure and continued to soar to greater heights as they continued to amass.

According to a call to action that was distributed to the general public by the emergency department, individuals were asked to “not believe or amplify rumors” regarding the event that had taken place. According to the incident that had taken place.

According to the local media, firefighters used a substantial number of drones and water sprays in their efforts to put out the fire. This information was reported by the media. An example of one of the hypotheses that was put forward was the theory that was described before.

According to Li Wanfeng, national fire and rescue spokesperson.

The hazards that are posed by fires continue to be a problem across the nation of China. During the period of January to May 2024, China announced that there were 947 deaths that were attributed to fires.

This information was provided by Li Wanfeng. It was in the country that these individuals met their deaths. In comparison to the same time period in the previous year, this is a 19 percent increase in comparison to the results of the current year.

There was a forty percent increase in the number of fires that took place in public places such as hotels and restaurants, according to Li’s assertions.

A number of different things contributed to the ignition of these fires.

When it came to the establishments in question, the most common causes of these incidents were negligence and connections to the gas or electrical systems that were not operating as they should have been. The fires that occurred were caused by these establishments being responsible for them.

During the month of January, an unlawful welding operation that took place in the basement of a commercial building led to the start of a fire, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of 39 additional people. An unauthorized welding operation was the root cause of the fire.

The next month, a linked parking lot that held electric bikes caught fire, which resulted in the deaths of fifteen individuals who were residing in a residential structure in the city of Nanjing, which is located in the eastern portion of China for the time being.

SOURCE: AJN