A fire broke out in a residential building in Urumqi, Xinjiang on the evening of the 24th. The Internet questioned the blockade of epidemic prevention and delayed disaster relief.

(Associated Press)

[Compiler Guan Shuping/Comprehensive Report] The State Council of China announced the "Optimizing 20 Measures for Epidemic Prevention" two weeks ago, prohibiting the increase of Wuhan pneumonia (new coronavirus disease, COVID-19) epidemic prevention restrictions layer by layer, but many local governments ignored this new According to the instructions, the control measures continued to be expanded, and the chaos of epidemic prevention and public grievances also increased.

A fire broke out in a residential building in Urumqi, Xinjiang on the 24th. Due to the excessive epidemic prevention in the community, the rescue of the fire brigade was hindered, and 10 people were buried in the fire cave.

The fire broke out in a residential building in Jixiangyuan Community (Community) in Tianshan District, Urumqi. The fire and thick smoke spread to 7 floors, killing 10 people and injuring 9 others.

China's official media Xinhua briefly reported that the fire started on the 15th floor, the fire spread to the 17th floor, the smoke spread to the 21st floor, and the number of casualties.

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However, official information shows that the fire broke out at 7:49 pm on the 24th and was extinguished at around 10:35 pm; that is to say, it took the fire brigade nearly 3 hours to extinguish the fire.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News Network pointed out that online videos also showed that fire trucks could only spray water on the fire from a distance because they were suspected to be unable to approach.

China's "Observer" and Hong Kong media "Hong Kong 〇1" reported on the 25th that according to information circulating on the Internet, this community is a low-risk area for epidemic prevention, but it has been over-protected. After arriving, these obstacles had to be dismantled in a hurry; some people also claimed that the community fire exits were blocked by cars. These cars could not start because they had been parked for too long for 109 days, delaying disaster relief.

The "Observer" reported that Urumqi is the largest city in the country with the longest continuous lockdown period. Most residents have been prohibited from leaving the community since mid-August.

The BBC quoted residents of the nearby community as saying that the area is a low-risk area, but they have been told to stay at home since August 7, with "only 1 to 2 hours of free activity time" every day, and dare not go downstairs at other times, "because it is against the law."

The fire has aroused widespread concern and discussion on the Chinese Internet. Related topics have been viewed more than 800 million times. Many netizens asked the government to disclose whether the residents of the building where the incident occurred were able to escape the burning building at that time and thoroughly investigate the obstruction of fire exits.

The BBC quoted a Weibo user as saying that "the price is too heavy" and "every tragedy is worse than Omicron (variant virus strain)".

Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of the official media "Global Times", also posted on Weibo, saying that whether the epidemic prevention measures hindered the rescue remains to be investigated by the authorities, but Urumqi "such a long-term lockdown is obviously unreasonable, and it exceeds the limit that people can bear physically and mentally." "In this case, the public will naturally "blame their anger and prevent and control" bad things that happen.