30 firefighters died while fighting forest fires

Thirty firefighters were reported missing yesterday while battling a forest fire in a remote mountainous area of ​​Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China.

Chinese state media said the firefighters died after becoming trapped in the blaze, with a sudden change in wind creating a “huge fireball” that blocked their escape and prevented them from communicating with other rescuers.

The bodies of all 30 firefighters killed have been recovered, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said. As of Tuesday evening, the fire was still not under control and efforts to extinguish it continued.

The forest fire occurred in a mountainous area as high as 3,800 meters, making transportation and communication difficult. Two military helicopters were dispatched to the scene to assist in rescue operations.

China has been hit by a series of forest fires in recent days. In Shanxi province, a fire broke out on the afternoon of March 29 and burned down nearly 3,000 hectares of forest. On March 30, in Miyun district, a suburb of Beijing, a fire also burned down 50 hectares of forest, forcing authorities to mobilize 2,000 rescue workers and firefighters to deal with it.