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Accidents and disasters in China
ChinaPolitics

Beijing private hospital where fire killed 29 may have been offering illegal long-term care: Chinese media reports

  • Beijing Changfeng Hospital partnered with an elderly care centre since 2019 but neither registered the deal, Shanghai-based media outlets report
  • Of the 29 people killed in Tuesday’s fire at the hospital, 26 were patients, more than half of them 70 years old

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Investigators check out a burnt-out corridor at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital where a deadly fire broke out on Tuesday. Photo: AP
Ling Xinin Beijing
The Beijing private hospital where dozens of elderly patients died in a blaze earlier this week might have collaborated with a nursing home to offer long-term stays illegally, Chinese media reports said.

Of the 29 people killed in Tuesday’s fire at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital, all but three were patients, of whom more than half were over 70 years old. Another 39 injured were evacuated to other hospitals.

The Beijing Fukangshou Incapacitated Elderly Care Centre, whose Yuegezhuang branch address overlaps with that of Changfeng in Fengtai district, had partnered with the hospital since 2019, Shanghai-based media outlets The Paper and Jiemian News reported.

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Changfeng provided the venue while Fukangshou carried out various promotional activities to draw patients.

However, neither the centre nor the hospital registered their partnership at the related civil affairs department which oversees issues such as construction, fire safety and food safety at private nursing homes in China, making their operations essentially illegal, Jiemian News found.

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Patients and doctors climb out windows to flee deadly fire at Beijing hospital

Patients and doctors climb out windows to flee deadly fire at Beijing hospital
Earlier Chinese news reports said the hospital began offering long-term care for the elderly as it struggled to stay in business during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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