7 dead, 18 injured in over 6,500 fire accidents in China in the past month

BEIJING, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- China over the past month saw a total of 6,581 fire-related accidents, which left seven dead and 18 others injured and caused direct property losses of 73.64 million yuan (around 11.60 million U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Public Security said Wednesday.

The ministry told a press conference that since it launched a national campaign to eliminate fire risks on Sept. 26, the reported number of fire-related accidents dropped 13.5 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Meanwhile, figures of deaths and injuries caused by fire-related accidents over the past month was also down 84.8 percent and 48.6 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.

Chen Fei, a senior fire-fighting official with the ministry, said the scope of the nationwide fire risk overhaul will be further spread to include all industries and sectors, townships, villages and residential communities.

In the first six months of this year, China reported a total of 83,983 fire cases, which left 749 people dead and 359 injured, and caused a direct financial loss of 1.16 billion yuan.