Tragedy in China. Twenty one people died after the fire broke out in the East Wing of a Beijing hospital in the inpatient ward, according to the Beijing Daily.

The fire broke out at 12.57pm local time (07.57GMT) when the fire department received a call for a fire which was extinguished shortly after, at 1.33pm, as soon as the emergency team rushed to the scene of the accident at Beijing Changfeng Hospital in the area Fengtai, writes the newspaper. Shocking video circulating on social networks shows a person escaping the fire using improvised rope created from blankets or sheets.

A total of 71 people they were removed from the hospital and transferred to other facilities after the rescue operation. By 6pm (14.00 Greek time) 21 people had died after being taken to hospital for treatment, the newspaper said.

“It’s tragic. I could see the accident from the window of my house. Many people were standing on the outdoor unit of the air conditioning system at noon, and some jumped down,” said one user of the Weibo online application.

Hospital fires are rare in China and the cause of the hospital fire is under investigation.