Wang Linlin, the wife’s sister, told the South China Morning Post that the wife is in stable condition but still has to undergo additional surgeries because 96 per cent of her body was burned.

“She is conscious and can communicate with us by nodding or shaking her head, but she still cannot talk,” she said.

Wang was on the balcony because she had been stuck in the bedroom when the fire started and climbed out the window to escape on to the balcony. Chen, who was already there, grabbed her but kept her hanging outside the balcony away from the blaze, said a witness.

When rescuers arrived, and Wang was pulled from the balcony, she begged the rescuers to, “save my husband first”, according to a Weibo post by the Nanjing fire department last Monday.

The family has yet to tell the injured woman about her husband’s death.

“They had been a happy couple, and although my brother-in-law has died, I hope his love can support my sister to live a good life in the future,” said Wang.

The couple had been married for over a decade and had three children together. In 2018, they moved out of their home village in Anhui province, in China’s east, searching for better job opportunities.

Their three children are still in Anhui province and are being raised by Chen’s parents, a fairly typical arrangement for rural migrant workers in China.

The couple shared a rented flat with four other families and only their room caught fire in the early morning. No one else was injured.

The fire department has not yet determined how the fire started.

The family raised 1 million yuan (US$157,000) through the crowdfunding platform Shuidichou to help cover their medical bills.