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Survivors recall horror as windows shattered, railings sizzled
By Wu Yiyao and Shi Yingying (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-19 07:51
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Jingjing waits for its masters outside the building that went up in flames. A passer-by spotted the dog and posted its photograph online. Photos provided to China Daily |
SHANGHAI - Zhang Yupei, 67, a resident of the Shanghai building that went up in flames on Monday, charring 53 people to death, couldn't control her tears when she saw her 68-year-old husband alive at the scene of the blaze the following day.
As soon as Zhang's husband, surnamed Bian, spotted flames, he told Zhang to run down the stairs and not worry about him.
"When I reached the first floor from our 27th-floor apartment, I wanted to call him but I realized I did not have a phone. I couldn't spot him in the commotion I was so worried something might have happened to him," Zhang said, wiping tears off her cheeks.
Bian stayed put in their apartment for nearly 20 minutes after his wife escaped, hoping firefighters would arrive and save their home.
"I thought rescuers would break in and put out the fire, but no one came," Bian said. "The windows had started shattering and the flames were inching closer. That's when I knew I had to abandon my home."
Bian said that on his way down from the 27th floor he saw many elderly residents screaming for help.
"There were old men and women screaming. And there were no firefighters in sight. But I couldn't do much. I had to run or I would have died."
Zhang and Bian were taken to different hospitals and neither of them knew if the other was dead or alive until they met at a corner of the burnt building, which they once called home, the next day.
Gu Enqi, a 48-year-old resident of the building, said even though he hardly ever interacted with his neighbors, the human instinct to survive brought them together.
He, along with his neighbors and family, including his 20-year-old university-going son, Gu Chongchao, ran out of the building together, successfully escaping without major injuries.
On his way down, Gu Chongchao saved an old couple from the jaws of death.
He said that after realizing the building was on fire, his family climbed out of the window and jumped onto the scaffold outside the building, which was undergoing renovation.
Gu Chongchao was carrying his 70-something grandmother on his back while climbing down the scaffolding.
"When I touched the scaffolding, I could hear a sizzling sound. My slippers melted," he said.
When they reached the 15th floor, a neighbor opened the window and let them in his house, which was brimming over with people.
But flames got to the apartment within seconds and everyone ran, Gu said.
"We could hear the windows shattering as we took the stairs.
"On the 12th floor, we saw an old couple lying amid what seemed like a sea of flames. The man was unconscious, and his wife was calling for help in a very weak voice," Gu said, adding that he ran into the fire and pulled the couple out.
"I helped the couple to a relatively safe spot on the 11th floor and ran down to get help. Luckily, I met a firefighter on the way down and told him of the couple waiting to be rescued.
"My entire family, our neighbors and the old couple eventually survived," Gu said.
"When all of us made it out safe, we just looked up and stared at the building. I don't think any of us felt anything at that point of time," said Gu's father Gu Enqi.
Even as tens of families were destroyed in the blaze, one of the deadliest in Shanghai's history, Jingjing, a 7-year-old golden retriever, who didn't eat a single bite for nearly 40 hours, finally got to wag its tail.
A passer-by, who spotted the dog weeping near the burning building, posted its picture on the Internet, enabling its masters, a middle-aged couple, to confirm their pet was alive.
Xi, the owner of the dog, said he, along with his wife, returned to the scene several times after the accident but could not find their dog.
He said when the blaze struck, he ran out in search of help but by the time he got out it was too late to re-enter the building to fetch his dog.
Firefighters eventually saved the dog and took the animal to their station.
Jingjing didn't eat until Xi's wife picked him up from the fire station on Nov 17.
"We're just lucky we survived and all of us are together,"
Xi said.
China Daily
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