| China |
| Nineteen Dead in Forest Fire | |
| Nineteen people, 18 firefighters and a guide, died in a forest fire in Xichang | |
|
|
 Huang Yuanlin
Huang Yuanlin, a 34-year-old firefighter, died while battling a forest fire in Xichang, Sichuan Province in southwest China, on March 31. Nineteen people, 18 firefighters and a guide, died in the blaze. The fire was completely put out on April 2.
It started on a farm on March 30 and quickly spread to nearby mountains due to strong winds, according to the information office of Xichang. The fire broke out near a liquefied petroleum gas storage facility. The victims became trapped due to a sudden change in the wind's direction at early morning on March 31. As of April 2, over 1,000 hectares had been scorched, and around 80 hectares of forest destroyed. A total of 24,467 people in the neighboring three towns were evacuated. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
