15 killed, 44 injured in building fire in China
Beijing, Feb 24: At least 15 people were killed and 44 others injured when a building caught fire in China, a month after 39 people died in a similar accident.
The building fire broke out in Nanjing, the capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, the municipal government said on Saturday.
Forty-four injured in the fire that broke out on Friday morning are receiving treatment at a local hospital.
A preliminary investigation found that the fire erupted on the building's first floor, where electrical bicycles were placed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
This is the second major fire accident in China in about a month.
Thirty-nine people were killed and nine others injured in a building fire that broke out in Xinyu City in east China's Jiangxi Province on January 24.
The fire broke out in a street shop in the Yushui District of Xinyu.
Following the mishap, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered steps to curb repeated occurrences of such accidents and to protect people's lives, and property and ensure social stability.
Fatal fires in China are not uncommon due to lax enforcement of building and safety standards.
On January 20, at least 13 students were killed when a fire broke out in a school dormitory in central China's Henan province. All the victims were third-grade students.
In November last year, 26 people died after a large fire ripped through an office building in Luliang city in Shanxi province.
A hospital fire in Beijing last April claimed the lives of at least 29 people - mostly patients - and triggered an investigation.
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Maharashtra Congress chief Patole meets Kharge, dismisses resignation talk as 'rumours'
New Delhi, Nov 25: Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday dismissed as "rumours" talk of his resignation following the assembly polls debacle and stressed on "collective accountability" for the defeat.
Patole made the remarks after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during which he conveyed that the result had not reflected the sentiments of the people of Maharashtra.
"Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other national and state leaders were leading Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from the forefront during the assembly polls. So, we were sure that the trends were in favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi, even the citizens believed that," the Maharashtra Congress chief said.
"If I talk about Nanded, the Lok Sabha bypolls and assembly elections were held on the same day. In Lok Sabha bypolls, our candidate was winning in six assembly seats, whereas, in the assembly elections, we are not winning even a single seat," he said, adding that there cannot be such a "huge difference".
This is the sentiment among the people also and they have stated that this government in Maharashtra was not being formed on their votes, he claimed.
"So, I spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge on this," he added.
Asked whether he had offered to resign or the party had asked for his resignation after the Maharashtra assembly polls defeat, Patole said, "These are all rumours and there is no truth in them. There is collective accountability."
Patole also said he will meet Rahul Gandhi in a day or two and discuss all issues.
"Democracy is being finished. We have discussed that... there was no talk of resignation," he said.
The MVA alliance, comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT), was restrained to 46 seats by the Mahayuti that reaped a rich harvest of 230 seats in the 288-member House.
