Beijing hospital fire claims 21 lives

A devastating fire at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital has tragically claimed the lives of 21 people, according to reports on Tuesday.

The blaze reportedly began just before 1pm local time at the private hospital, located in the Fengtai district of the Chinese capital. It took emergency crews about half an hour to put out the inferno, with frantic rescue efforts continuing for a further two hours. All in all, a remarkable 71 patients were evacuated from the burning building and subsequently taken to another location for care.

As of 6pm, the tragic death toll stood at 21, with the exact cause of the accident still being investigated, according to the same reports.

Gut-wrenching footage shared on social media throughout the day showed desperate people perched on external air conditioning units as they tried to escape the flames. Other harrowing scenes captured occupants clinging to…