BEIJING (CNN): At least 21 people have died after a fire broke out in Changfeng Hospital in China’s capital Beijing, state media CCTV reported on Tuesday.
“As of 6pm local (6am EST), 21 people have unfortunately died,” CCTV said. Additionally, 71 hospital patients were evacuated.
The fire, reported at around 1 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET), has been extinguished and the occupants evacuated.
The blaze is one of the most deadly in Beijing in recent years, surpassing the toll from a fire in 2017 that killed 19 in a cramped two-story building in Daxing district in the capital’s southern suburb.
That tragedy prompted authorities to demolish large swathes of buildings deemed illegal or unsafe in the neighborhood and forced thousands of migrant workers out of their homes and businesses.
