A major fire broke out in a high-rise residential building in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, resulting in at least 14 deaths and nearly 30 injuries. Authorities are investigating the cause. On social media, a hero was praised for helping six trapped people escape by breaking a window screen to flee to the rooftop, where they miraculously survived.
The fire occurred at Hao Sheng International Apartment in Yingze District, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province in northern China on the evening of Sunday, 8 Nov. It caused at least 14 deaths and many injuries, with 38 people hospitalized. Authorities confirmed the death toll increased on Monday morning.
Xinhua News Agency reported that the fire started around 16:59 and was controlled by evening the same day, after which rescue operations were completed. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The building, constructed in 2007, is located in the commercial Liu Xiang area. It is a high-rise that houses both an educational institute and hotel rooms. The lower floors mainly contain tutoring centers, while the upper floors serve as hotel accommodations. Locally, it is nicknamed the "Golden Building" due to its gold-colored exterior.
A survivor named Lan recounted that he was staying on the 8th floor of the hotel when he smelled smoke and saw smoke entering his room. He quickly went to check but found hallways filled with thick smoke, making it nearly impossible to see the way out.
He decided to lead six others—including cleaning staff and a young couple—to escape through a window to an outdoor balcony after finding the emergency stairs filled with smoke and intense heat. They covered their mouths and noses with wet cloths and crouched low to avoid the smoke.
The seven trapped individuals waited on the balcony for over 40 minutes before firefighters rescued them using a hydraulic lift. He said he insisted that women and the elderly be helped first and that he was the last to leave the building.
He added that while waiting for rescue, he observed wind direction and areas with less smoke, comforted those trapped to keep them calm, and conserved his phone battery to contact his family.
This incident raised questions about building safety measures. Survivors said the rooms had smoke detectors and emergency lights, but the smoke detectors did not activate during the fire.
Serious fires are common in China. Last November, multiple high-rise fires in Hong Kong killed 168 people. The following month, a residential building fire in Guangdong Province caused 12 deaths. In July, a shoe factory fire in eastern China claimed at least 28 lives.