Fires kill 132 people in Guangdong
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-05-23 15:16

At least 132 people have been killed in fire disasters in south China's Guangdong Province since the beginning of the year, said information from the Provincial General Brigade for Fire Control.

According to the information, in the first four months of the year, there were 6,169 fires in the province, killing 118 people and injuring 124 others, all of which went up by 40 percent on a year-on-year basis. The fires also caused 24.4 million yuan (US$2.94 million) in direct losses.

In May alone, another 14 people were added to the death toll because of fresh fires most of which took place in residential quarters, said the sources.

A leading local fire control officer emphasized the necessity of stepping up publicity on fire control and of spreading common knowledge about how to prevent fire disasters at home in daily life and to survive similar disasters.

Guangdong Province, one of China's economic powerhouses, has been benefited the most by the country's reform and opening-up drive. It has become a global base for processing trade and a key foreign trade player in China.

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