A fire at a restaurant in Liaoyang City, northeastern China, killed 22 people on Tuesday, according to state media, marking one of the country’s deadliest recent tragedies.
The blaze broke out at 12:25 pm local time in a ground-floor eatery located in a residential area of Liaoning Province. Three peoples were injured in the incident.
Footage shared on Chinese social media platforms showed flames consuming the shopfront as thick smoke rose above the scene. Paramedics could be seen treating victims on stretchers outside the burning building.
President Xi Jinping called the incident “a deeply sobering lesson” and urged local authorities to swiftly investigate the cause, tend to the injured, and hold responsible parties to account, according to the state media
Emergency crews, including 22 fire engines and 85 firefighters, were dispatched. Provincial party secretary Hao Peng confirmed that on-site rescue work had been completed and people had been evacuated.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but the incident adds to a string of similar fatal blazes in recent months, raising questions about fire safety compliance across public venues in China.
The incident follows a series of deadly accidents across China in recent years. In April, a fire at a nursing home for the elderly in Hebei Province claimed 20 lives.
Last year, gas leaks were behind several high-profile blasts, including a restaurant explosion in Hebei that killed two and injured 26 in March, and a fatal blast in a residential tower in Shenzhen in September that left one dead.
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