CHINA / SOCIETY
China Telecom investigates fire in Changsha building; no casualties reported
Published: Sep 16, 2022 08:11 PM
Photo: Screenshot of Weibo video

Photo: Screenshot of Weibo video


The large fire that engulfed a high-rise building belonging to China Telecom in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, has been put out. No casualties were reported, the group announced Friday on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

The group said that it had shut off power to some facilities in the building. Some customers' mobile phones were affected and the group was dealing with the issue, read the announcement.

Some Changsha local residents told media they saw smoke coming out of the building at about 3:55 pm. The fire rapidly engulfed the whole building in about 10 minutes.

According to the China Telecom announcement on Weibo, the fire was put out at about 4:30 pm.

The China Telecom's Hunan branch told media that they were investigating the cause of the fire. It noted that no casualties had been reported so far and it would continue to release information to the public in a timely manner.

According to people.cn, the Changsha fire and rescue center received a report of the fire at 3:48 pm on Friday. They immediately dispatched 280 firefighters and firefighting vehicles from 17 local stations to the scene.

Construction on the building was finished in 2000. It is the first building in Changsha whose height exceeded 200 meters, reaching 218 meters with 42 floors above ground and two floors underground, according to media reports.

According to videos and pictures circulating online, the fire destroyed the front side of the building. The other three sides seemed unaffected.

A shop staff member working near the building told media that the fire burnt strongly for about 10 minutes.

According to the staff member, the fire first started from some air conditioner external units. The glass of some windows on the front wall exploded and fell down from the building, according to the staff member.