Fire kills 21 in Beijing hospital

Twenty-one people were killed after a fire broke out in the east wing of the in-patient department of a hospital in China's capital Beijing, the Beijing Daily reported on Tuesday.

The fire broke out at around 12.57pm (0457 GMT) and was extinguished at around 13.33pm after an emergency team rushed to the scene of the accident in Beijing's Changfeng Hospital, according to the Beijing Daily.

A total of 71 people were evacuated and transferred after the rescue work. As of 6.00pm (1000 GMT), 21 had died after being transferred to hospital for treatment, the Beijing Daily reported.

"It's tragic. I can see the accident from the window of my house. A lot of people were standing on the air conditioning unit at noon, and some even jumped off," said a Weibo netizen.

Hospital fires are rare in China, and the cause of the blaze is still being investigated.