China reports 5,945 fires in first 32 hours of Spring Festival holiday
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China reported 5,945 fires from the beginning of Wednesday to 8 a.m. Thursday, Monday's China Daily quoted the Ministry of Public Security as saying.
The figure during the 32-hour period was about 80 percent of the 7,480 fires nationwide during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday last year, the fire control bureau under the ministry said Sunday.
The bureau attributed the increase of fires to fireworks and partly to dry weather in north and east China.
Setting off fireworks is one of the main celebrations for the Chinese to welcome the Lunar New Year. The peak hours for fireworks was the New Year's Eve, which fell on Wednesday this year.
In Beijing, fires related to fireworks killed two people and injured 223 from the start of Wednesday to 2 p.m. Thursday.
In Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, fireworks triggered a fire at a five-star hotel early Thursday. Fortunately, all people in the hotel were evacuated safely.
