Fire breaks out at one of China’s biggest power plants

A large fire broke out at one of China’s biggest power plants on Friday afternoon, near to the annual parliamentary meetings in Beijing.

Twenty teams of firefighters, 91 fire engines and scores of police arrived at the scene shortly after the fire broke out just before 3pm, taking about an hour to extinguish the flames, state news agency Xinhua said.

One of four generators at the plant near the east fifth ring road had caught fire, confirmed China Huaneng Group, the country’s top power producer. The remaining three were shut down as a safety precaution, it added.

Photos circulating on social media showed thick black smoke billowing high above the coal-fired station.

Local police and security authorities were on high alert as the fire came shortly before the closing ceremony of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

No casualties have been reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation.