Picture of a 42-story building on fire in China

On the evening of September 16, AP reported that the fire that broke out at the 42-storey building of China Telecom has been extinguished. China Telecom stated that there are no reports of casualties (if any). The group said mobile phone service was “uninterrupted” but many social media users complained they couldn’t use their phones to communicate.

“By about 4:30 p.m. on September 16, the fire at our communication tower No. 2 in Trường Sa had been extinguished. No casualties have been reported and communications have not been cut,” – China Telecom confirmed. take.

The fire occurred in Trường Sa city, capital of Hunan province, central China. The city’s fire department said it mobilized 36 vehicles and 280 firefighters to quickly extinguish the blaze at the 218-meter-tall building.

The fire that broke out in the 42-storey building of China Telecom has been extinguished. Photo: Daily Mail

Video of the fire showed one side of the 42-story building blackened and debris strewn to the ground. Several other videos from local media showed workers inside trying to evacuate the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Truong Sa city has a population of about 10 million people.

According to the Hunan Provincial Fire Department, preliminary investigation indicated that the exterior wall of the 42-story building caught fire.

The 42-storey building is 218 meters high, was completed in 2000 and is located near the main ring road, according to broadcaster CCTV.

One side of the building was burnt black. Photo: CCTV

Deadly fires have occurred in China due to lax enforcement of building codes and rampant unauthorized construction.

In July last year, a warehouse in Jilin province, northeast China caught fire, killing at least 15 people and injuring 25 others. A month earlier, a fire at a dojo in central China’s Henan province killed at least 18 people – mostly children.