Death toll in Beijing's hospital fire rises to 29
Beijing (PTI): The death toll from a major fire at a hospital building in the Chinese capital has risen to 29, officials said here on Wednesday.
The fire which broke out at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital on Tuesday has been extinguished, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
On Tuesday, the official media reported that 21 people were killed in the incident.
More than 70 patients were affected and shifted from the affected hospital admissions building in Beijing's Fengtai district.
Videos circulating online show some people jumping out of the window and waiting for rescue on the outdoor air conditioning units. Others jumped to lower rooftops, state-run Global Times reported.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The city has set up a special working team to identify the cause of the accident, and those responsible for the accident will be held accountable in accordance with the law, the report said.
Authorities have instructed all districts to conduct large-scale inspections to identify and eliminate potential safety hazards, preventing any significant safety incidents from occurring as the May Day holidays are approaching.
China will shut down for a week from May 1 to celebrate International Workers Day.
Beijing Changfeng Hospital is a private hospital established in 1985, affiliated with Beijing Changfeng Hospital Corporation.
The hospital, a secondary hospital in China's three-tier hospital system, is a chain hospital that specialises in the treatment of vascular diseases, especially haemangiomas and vascular malformations, as well as other comprehensive treatment programmes.
In another incident, 11 people died in a factory fire in Wuyi county, Jinhua city in China's eastern Zhejiang province earlier on Tuesday.
NEW: Massive fire breaks out in Beijing hospital. Video show patients using bed sheets to try to escape the blaze, multiple fatalities reported.pic.twitter.com/fucvzCcPs2
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) April 18, 2023
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
