Father Recounts Losing His Son to School Dorm Fire in China

Police stand outside a school where 13 people died in a fire in China's central Henan Province, on Jan. 21, 2024. Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images

On the morning of Jan. 20, Li Yong (a pseudonym) got an urgent call from authorities, urging him to return home immediately, though they did not reveal the reason.

Mr. Li worked in a city in southern Guangdong Province, over 800 miles from his hometown in Henan Province. Without hesitation, he bought a plane ticket on the same day.

Mr. Li used a pseudonym due to fear of possible reprisals from authorities.

When he arrived in his hometown, he was devastated to learn that his son died from a fire accident in school.

The fire broke out on the night of Jan. 19 in one of the dorms of Yingcai School in Fangcheng district, Nanyang city, Henan, resulting in 13 deaths and four injuries, according to Chinese media reports. The victims were reportedly third graders between the ages of 8 and 9.

Local authorities sent Mr. Li and the other parents to stay at different hotels while the hospital collected DNA samples to identify the victims.

“We took a DNA test that afternoon, identified our child’s remains, negotiated compensation, then took our child’s ashes home,” Mr. Li told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times.

Mr. Li said his son’s class has more than 60 students; 32 boys live on the same dormitory floor.

The school dormitory has four floors, with a nursery classroom on the ground floor, a girls’ dormitory on the first floor, a boys’ dormitory on the third floor, and a fourth floor that was not used.

“All windows of the four floors are sealed with security grilles; the iron door between the floors was also locked,” Mr. Li said, adding that the extra security cut off the only escape route for his son and other boys trapped in the fire.

What’s more, “The teacher usually lives in the dorm,” Mr. Li noted, adding: “Was the teacher with the students at the time of the incident? Why were the students unable to escape? Parents want to know the truth.”

A student who claimed to have graduated from the school told Chinese media Yangzi Evening News that all the dormitories are locked at night when students go to bed. “So when I saw the news of the fire, I knew why there were many deaths and injuries,” he said.

A Chinese netizen claimed that the 13 children who died in the blaze were trapped in their room, and a child in the next room allegedly said he heard them shouting: ‘Mommy, mommy, help me!’”

The netizen called on the authorities to carry out an investigation.

“Poor kids, may there be no pain in heaven,” the post reads.

At the time of publication, local authorities have not released a follow-up report of the incident.

Other Fire Incidents

There have been multiple incidents where buildings were locked down during fires, resulting in numerous casualties.

In the early morning of May 25, 2021, a martial arts studio caught on fire in Shangqiu, Henan, killing at least 18 students and injuring 16 others. It was reported that the children were trapped because the exit door was locked.

Most of the dead and injured were boarding students; the youngest was 7 years old. Parents of the deceased were allegedly silenced and repressed by authorities from speaking out about the incident and calling for an investigation.

A woman holds a blank sheet of paper as demonstrators protest the deaths caused by an apartment complex fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, at the Langson Library on the campus of the University of California, Irvine, in Irvine, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2022. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

On the eve of Nov. 24, 2022, a fire broke out in a high-rise residential building in the Tianshan district of Urumqi, Xinjiang, where it had been locked down for nearly four months due to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) draconian COVID-19 measures. The fire reportedly burned for almost three hours, causing 10 deaths and nine injuries.

Several Chinese media sources have indicated that the incident occurred for two reasons. First, the access door to the building was locked, preventing people from escaping. Second, vehicles blocked a section of the road leading to the apartment complex’s entrance, requiring firefighters to spend much time removing them, which delayed their arrival at the scene.

China observer Zhuge Mingyang told The Epoch Times that the moral decline in modern China resulted from the CCP’s totalitarian rule. In response to heightened fears, Chinese people often seal off buildings to prevent theft and protect their children from abduction and human trafficking, he said, pointing out that this focus on security neglects the crucial consideration of how to escape in the event of an emergency.

“This is a misfortune for the Chinese people; its roots stem from the evil rule of the CCP,” he said.