Five die in Beijing electric bike fire

Beijing fire officials said two electric bikes plugged into a home-made wiring system ignited a blaze that killed five people and injured nine others in a block of flats in the Chinese capital early on Wednesday.

Fire authorities said the blaze erupted in a three-storey building in Chaoyang district’s Shibalidian township at about 1.18am, just weeks after another deadly residential fire killed 19 people and prompted a controversial 40-day municipal safety campaign.

Fire officials said a resident on the building’s second floor had connected an electrical wire to a device to recharge bikes, The Beijing News reported.

The five people died from inhalation of gases emitted from the bikes’ burning batteries, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Flammable building materials were also found inside the flat, which was one of 27 in the block, the report said.