On the evening of December 9th, a tragic fire broke out in a four-story self-built house on Danfeng Road in Xiashan Street, Chaonan District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province, resulting in the deaths of 12 individuals, including young children and elderly members of a four-generation family. The cause of the fire remains a mystery, leaving many netizens shocked by the devastating incident.
The fire erupted at 9:20 pm on December 9th in a four-story reinforced concrete self-built house, with a fire area of approximately 150 square meters. It claimed the lives of 8 individuals on the spot, while 4 others succumbed to their injuries despite rescue efforts. The self-built house was equipped with anti-theft doors and windows.
Video footage from the scene revealed that the building, which housed a hardware and electrical appliance store on the ground floor named Yufeng Hardware and Electrical Appliance Store, had its exterior facade and security bars charred by thick smoke. A semi-open rooftop space was located on the top floor of the building.
According to neighborhood witnesses, the fire first broke out on the ground floor, with flames visible in all five storefronts. Thick smoke rapidly ascended to the upper floors, accompanied by crackling sounds of combustion. Nearby residents attempted to extinguish the ground floor fire using fire hoses borrowed from a neighboring store.
A neighbor involved in the rescue efforts mentioned that the homeowner was around 60 years old, with three sons in their forties living together across multiple floors. The ground floor served as a commercial space, while the second floor stored goods, including plumbing supplies, electrical wiring, pumps, and other hardware items. Smoke from the burning items created intense fumes at the scene.
The neighbor added that the eldest son’s family lived on the third floor, while the homeowner, his wife, mother, and younger sons lived on the fourth floor. During the fire, the eldest son was not at home.
The building had two exits—one facing the main street, serving as the main entrance to the store, and another located on a side alley facing away from the main road, with a rear door for emergency exit.
Survivors managed to escape from the third floor. Witnesses recounted that the homeowner’s wife, mother, and two younger sons’ families were trapped on the fourth floor and tragically did not survive.
Adjacent store owners recalled that several individuals trapped on the fourth floor windows were shouting for help. They were advised to block their noses and mouths with wet towels and to open the door to the rooftop, as the rooftops on their street were interconnected, providing a potential escape route to neighboring buildings. However, they faced difficulties in unlocking the door.
The daughter of the store owner, Wu, identified the deceased as family members, including her father, mother, grandmother, younger brother, and his children. The brother, who was not home at the time of the fire, and his wife managed to escape.
Photos from the scene captured the destructive aftermath of the fire at the hardware store, attracting a large crowd of local residents.
As of now, the cause of the deadly fire remains under investigation.
In a report by China News Weekly, on the night of December 9th, Li Sheng, a resident of Daizhai Village near Danfeng Road, heard the sound of fire alarms and cycled to the scene. By 10 pm that night, the fire had mostly been extinguished, with sporadic flames still visible in the ground-floor store while the upper floors were shrouded in darkness.
Blogger “Thousand Words Entertainment Journal” pointed out the urgency of addressing fire safety measures for mixed commercial and residential buildings, urging for improved oversight and enforcement to prevent such tragedies from recurring.
It is noteworthy that a similar tragedy occurred at the West Ditch Market, just 3 kilometers away from the recent fire incident site. In that previous incident on June 10th, a fire in a storefront claimed the lives of 3 individuals.