BEIJING – At least 15 people have been killed and 44 others injured in a fire at a residential building in Nanjing in eastern China, the local authorities said on Feb 24.

The fire broke out in the early morning on Feb 23, officials said at a press conference, with a preliminary investigation indicating that the blaze had started on the building’s first floor, where electric bikes had been placed.

The building is located in the Yuhuatai district of Nanjing, a city of more than eight million that lies about 260km north-west of Shanghai.

By 6am, the fire had been extinguished, and a search and rescue operation ended at around 2pm on Feb 23, the authorities said.

Twenty-five fire trucks were mobilised to fight the blaze, emergency services said.

Footage circulating on Chinese social media networks shows a skyscraper on fire in the middle of the night, with black smoke pouring from it.

Other images show gigantic flames consuming several floors of the building, and the flashing lights of emergency vehicles visible nearby in the dark.

Additional footage, apparently taken later, shows white smoke pouring out of several points in the building.

The 44 injured people were taken to hospital for treatment, officials said, adding that one was in “critical condition”, while another was seriously injured.

At a press conference, Nanjing Mayor Chen Zhichang offered his condolences and apologies to the victims’ families.

Frequent fires

Fires and other deadly accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.

The country has seen a spate of deadly fires in recent months, often caused by official negligence – prompting calls from President Xi Jinping in January for “deep reflection” and greater efforts to “curb the frequent occurrence of safety accidents”.

In January, dozens died after a fire broke out at a store in the central city of Xinyu, with state news agency Xinhua reporting that the blaze had been caused by the “illegal” use of fire by workers in the store’s basement.

That fire came just days after a late-evening blaze at a school in central China’s Henan province killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory.

A teacher at the school told state-run Hebei Daily that all the victims were from the same third-grade class of nine- and 10-year-olds.

Domestic media reports suggested that the fire was caused by an electric heating device.

In November 2023, 26 people were killed and dozens taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a coal company office in the northern province of Shanxi.

In June that year, an explosion at a barbecue restaurant in the north-west of the country left 31 dead and prompted official pledges of a nationwide campaign to promote workplace safety.

In April 2023, a hospital fire in Beijing killed 29 people and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape. AFP