Five Chinese university students killed in dormitory fire sparked by electric scooters
- Firefighters say 73 people were trapped when blaze broke out at foot of stairwell
- Ground floor security door hindered residents as they tried to escape
Five university students were killed and 38 others injured by a fire at an apartment block in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Sunday.
Firefighters in the city of Guilin were alerted to the blaze at about 6.50am on Sunday and put out the fire within 20 minutes before finding 73 people trapped.
Five were pronounced dead at the scene and six were being treated in an intensive care unit, fire and rescue officials said, adding that 32 others suffered minor injuries.
Guangxi Normal University said all of the dead and 24 of the injured were students at its Lijiang College, and that relatives had arrived at the scene.
“This accident is deplorable,” the university said. “We mourn the five young lives that passed away in the accident. May the injured recover soon.”
The four top floors of the six-storey building, across the road from Lijiang College, were rented to students. Four people, including the owners of the block, were taken into police custody as an investigation started, Red Star News reported.
