Mass rally mourns over firemen died of fire fighting
( 2003-11-09 11:36) (Xinhua)
More than 20,000 people gathered Sunday morning in Hengyang city of southern
China's Hunan Province to mourn over the 20 firefighters died of fire fighting
earlier last week.
Attendees to the memorial meeting held in the city's Chuanshan Square include
Zhou Yongkang, minister of public security and Zhou Bohua, acting governor of
Hunan Province, who hosted the memorial service.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Public Security posthumously honored the
20 firefighters, who died of the collapse of a burning building when trying to
extinguish the fire last week, as martyrs for their heroic deeds and duties.
The firefighters rushed to the eight-story resident building fire scene two
minutes after the fire alarm was raised in Hengyang City at 5:43 a.m. on Nov. 3.
The eight-floor building suddenly tumbled when local firemen were trying to
put out the fire, leaving two dead on site and 19 buried, of whom only one
survived.
The fire was concentrated in a warehouse on the first floor. The firefighters
first safely evacuated all 412 residents in the building before beginning a
two-hour battle against the blaze.
However, around 8:30 a.m., the building suddenly collapsed, burying 20
firefighters in the rubble.
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