The causes for two fires which killed eight people in Beijing recently have been determined, said an official of the Beijing fire control department on Monday.
On January 5, a fire in Dahongmen Village of Fengtai District killed five female migrant workers. The young women, aged between 19 and 23, were making clothing.
Investigation shows that the disaster was caused by improper use of a coal stove, which caused inflammable materials nearby to catch fire.
The young women had drunk alcohol that day and when the fire broke out they were sleeping. They could not escape, because they did not know the way to do so, said the official.
Another fire on January 7 occurred in a bar in east Beijing's Chaoyang District. The fire killed three waitresses and spread to a flower market, causing an economic loss of 690,000 yuan (US$83,000).
According to the investigation, a liquefied petroleum gas leak in the bar was detonated by sparks from electrical appliances.
All of the dead women were migrant workers from outside Beijing. Fire prevention and fire safety education should be improved among migrant workers, said the official.
(People's Daily January 15, 2002)
