Blaze engulfs 42-floor skyscraper in China: People fleeing as burning debris falls around them 

A fire engulfed a 42-floor skyscraper today in the central Chinese city of Changsha, with authorities saying that no casualties had yet been found.

A video shared on social media appeared to show dozens of people fleeing the skyscraper, as flaming debris fell from the upper floors.

The blaze burned through dozens of floors of the skyscraper, which is owned by the state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom. 

A video shared on social media appeared to show dozens of people fleeing the building as flaming debris fell from the upper floors

A fire engulfed a skyscraper Friday in the central Chinese city of Changsha, with authorities saying that no casualties had yet been found

Flaming debris fell from the skyscraper, sending people on the streets running for their lives 

The blaze burned through dozens of floors of the skyscraper, which is owned by the state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom

Flames and smoke rise from the skyscraper in Changsha, China, on Friday 

‘Thick smoke billowed from the site, and dozens of floors burned ferociously,’ CCTV reported.

The city’s fire department said it sent 280 firefighters who were able to quickly extinguish the blaze in the 720ft building.

An initial photograph released by CCTV showed orange flames searing through the building in a built-up area of the city as black smoke billowed into the sky.

A later image shared on social media appeared to show that the flames had subsided, as emergency personnel sprayed jets of water onto its charred facade.

China Telecom said in a statement on social media: ‘By around 4:30 pm today, the fire at our No. 2 Communications Tower in Changsha has been extinguished.’ 

It added that no injuries or deaths have been reported and that there was no disruption to mobile phone services, but social media users complained of being unable to use their phones. 

The flames engulfed the skyscraper, as black smoke billowed into the air in the central Chinese city of Changsha

‘Thick smoke billowed from the site, and dozens of floors burned ferociously,’ CCTV reported.

The 720ft building was completed in 2000 and is located near a major ring road, according to CCTV

Flames and smoke rise from the 720ft building after it caught fire on Friday in Changsha, China 

Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, has a population of about 10 million people.

The 720ft building was completed in 2000 and is located near a major ring road, according to CCTV.

Deadly fires are common in China, where lax enforcement of building codes and rampant unauthorised construction can make it difficult for people to flee burning buildings.

In July last year, a warehouse fire in northeastern Jilin province killed at least 15 people and injured at least 25, according to state media reports.

The month before that, a fire killed 18 people – mostly children – at a martial arts school in central Henan province, causing an uproar over fire safety standards.

A further two dozen people died in a pair of blazes in Beijing’s migrant neighbourhoods in 2017, while 58 perished when a huge fire swept through a 28-storey Shanghai housing block in 2010.