China mourns Sichuan forest fire victims as details of their lives emerge

Two teenagers and a newly married fireman were among the victims of a deadly forest fire in southwest China, it has emerged.

Sunday’s fire, in a remote, mountainous area of Muli county, Liangshan prefecture, was the deadliest incident involving firefighters since 2015, when an explosion at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin killed 173, most of whom were firefighters and first responders.

The victims of the forest fire were mainly young men in their twenties and thirties and included 27 firefighters and three civilian helpers.

The youngest firefighters, Xu Penglong and Wang Fojun, were only 18 years old and had entered the fire service less than two years ago.

The civilian first responders included two officials from the local forestry bureau.