Mountain fire in southwest China contained after 30 firefighters and helpers die
Chinese soldiers board a helicopter in Chengdu, in southwestern China's Sichuan province, on Monday as they prepare to rescue firefighters trapped by a forest blaze in Muli county. | AFP-JIJI
BEIJING, Apr 2, 2019, AP. Firefighters have contained a blaze high in the rugged forested mountains in southwestern China that has claimed the lives of 30 of their colleagues, reported The Japan Times.
State media say open flames have been extinguished and only a few areas continued to emit smoke as of Tuesday, with no further threat of the fire spreading.
The bodies of the dead firefighters were brought to the town of Xichang, in Sichuan province, while three helicopters had brought in reinforcements to extinguish the blaze for good.
Changing winds Sunday apparently trapped the 27 firefighters and three helpers.
The death toll appeared to be the worst among firefighters since 2015, when an explosion at a chemical warehouse in the northeastern port city of Tianjin killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and other first responders.
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