At Least 27 Firefighters Killed in Chinese Forest Fire

By 6:30 pm on Monday, the bodies of the victims were all recovered, including 27 firefighters and three locals, said the ministry, whose official website switched to black and white to mourn the tragedy.

At about 5 pm on Saturday, a fire broke out in an alpine forest in Muli county. The fire, the cause of which is still unknown, was concentrated at an altitude of about 3,800 meters, with complex terrain, steep valleys, and a lack of road access, the local government said in a statement on Monday.

On Sunday afternoon, 689 firefighters were sent to combat the fire, the ministry said in an earlier statement on Monday.

“A sudden change of wind direction instantly formed a huge fireball and a change of direction. Firefighters at the scene tried to escape the danger, but contact with 30 of them was lost,” the statement said.

The ministry immediately launched a search and rescue operation. Huang Ming, Party chief of the ministry, held a video conference with local officials, and a rescue team led by Vice-Minister Fu Jianhua went to the site on Sunday night.

Two army helicopters, carrying a rescue team of 15 along with relief supplies, were sent Monday morning to the scene, the 77th Group Army said.

Firefighting operations are still underway. Authorities are attempting to identify all the bodies and provide comfort for surviving family members.

Another unrelated forest fire that broke out in Qinyuan county, Changzhi, Shanxi province, on Friday, was under control, local authorities said in a statement on Monday.

A 3.7-kilometer long and 80-meter wide ditch dug by 300 firefighters on Saturday night to contain the fire in Shanxi prevented further spread of the fire.

Thousands of people from six towns were evacuated after the fire and there were no casualties, it said.

More than 15,000 people joined the rescue work in Shanxi, with 13 planes, 10 helicopters, 50 firetrucks and 21 excavators involved, the statement said.

Through Sunday, there will be a high risk of forest fires to the north of Beijing, northeast Hebei province and central Shanxi province due a lack of rain and higher temperatures, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement on Monday.

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