A Chinese rescuer tries to descend from a helicopter to rescue the residents trapped on the rooftop of a residential apartment building on fire in downtown Shanghai, China, 15 November 2010. An apartment-building fire in downtown Shanghai killed at least 49 people, state broadcaster China Central Television reported Tuesday (16 November 2010). The fire was under control at 6:30 p.m. local time Monday, four hours after starting, Xinhua News Agency said, citing a municipal publicity department statement. More than 100 people were received by local hospitals, the official news agency said. Scaffolding for renovation work on the 28-story building in the JingAn district caught fire about 2:15 p.m., Xinhua said. An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way, and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu arrived on site early Tuesday to guide rescue and relief work, the news agency said. Thick smoke prevented three helicopters from rescuing people trapped on the burning buildings roof, Xinhua reported earlier. Firefighters hosed water from the top of a nearby building to douse flames on upper floors unreachable by equipment on their trucks, the news agency said. The building, built in the 1990s, housed mainly teachers, many retired, from several schools in the district, Xinhua said. Most of the injured were elderly and children at home during working hours, CCTV said. People evacuated from the building and three neighboring blocks are being housed temporarily in public facilities, including a school and a stadium, Xinhua said.
