Fire in China apartment building kills 14: state media

A fire broke out in an apartment building in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China, on Sunday evening at around 5:00 p.m., according to state media Xinhua. Thirty-eight individuals were rushed to hospitals for treatment, with five fatalities reported initially. By Monday morning, the death toll had risen to 14 as the blaze was extinguished that same day.

The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing. China has a history of deadly fires due to insufficient building standards and lax workplace safety practices. The government introduced a campaign against fire hazards in high-rise buildings in November following a massive blaze in Hong Kong that claimed 168 lives. Another fire at a residential building in Guangdong province resulted in 12 deaths a month later, while a shoe factory fire in eastern China killed at least 28 people in July.