Fire at Chinese hospital kills at least 10-report

BEIJING (Reuters) – A fire gutted the largest hospital in
the northeastern Chinese city of Liaoyuan on Thursday killing
at least 10 people, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The 10 victims were patients who died while being
transferred to other hospitals in the city, in Jilin province,
Xinhua said. The cause of the blaze and the extent of the
damage were not immediately known.

Last month, an explosion at a chemical plant in Jilin
spilled 100 tonnes of cancer-causing benzene compounds into the
Songhua river and forced nearby Harbin city to suspend water
supplies for four days.

A police official told Reuters that provincial leaders
rushed to the scene. He said the cause of the fire was under
investigation.

A witness said scores of patients were evacuated.

Some people were seen jumping from the burning building,
Xinhua quoted witnesses as saying.

Fire engines from the provincial capital Changchun and
nearby Yitong county were mobilized to help fight the fire, it
said without giving further details.