The death toll from a fire at a Beijing hospital has risen to 29, including 26 patients, authorities said Wednesday.
The fire, which broke out at Changfeng Hospital on Tuesday, initially killed 26 patients and injured dozens.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but officials say they believe it originated from welding sparks from work being carried out in the hospital’s inpatient wing.
All but three of the 29 dead were patients, officials told a media briefing on Wednesday, with the fire having been put out in half an hour.
Authorities have detained 12 people, including the hospital’s head and her deputy, along with the head of the construction crew.
Authorities are investigating the fire, Beijing’s deadliest since at least 2002, when a blaze at an internet café killed 25.
Initial checks showed the fire, which mostly affected a wing for critically ill patients, was caused by inflammable painting material at a ward under renovation, the officials said.
A total of 39 people are being treated for injuries, three of them in critical condition, officials said.
The central government has pledged stronger safety measures since an explosion in 2015 at a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers.
