China Wildfire

[NJFFSA16]

BEIJING (AP) - A forest fire in southern China has killed one
soldier and injured 28 other troops called in to battle the blaze
that raged for three days, the official Xinhua News Agency reported
Thursday.
Tan Shouwen, 22, died from fire-related injuries Tuesday, when
the blaze in Xingzi county, Jiangxi province broke out, the report
said. The fire was brought under control Thursday morning.
Investigators believe the fire was accidentally started by a
local farmer who was burning paper as an offering to his ancestors.
Another 28 people, mostly soldiers, were injured in the blaze,
and were in stable condition at local hospitals, the report said.
The peasant farmer suspected of accidentally starting the fire,
Qian Muoyang, was released from jail for unknown offenses Monday
and visited his father's grave Tuesday to burn paper money as an
offering, said Zhou Mufu, an official with the Xingzi County
Forestry Bureau.
The paper ignited the forest fire and police are now searching
for Qian who apparently fled, Zhou said.
More than 200 fire fighters and soldiers were mobilized to fight
the flames, the report said quoting unnamed sources from the
Jiangxi Provincial Forest Fire Control Headquarters.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

BEIJING (AP) - A farmer has been sentenced to life in prison for
starting a forest fire that killed 11 people in southern China in
January, the government said.
Liang Zhishu was convicted of arson for igniting the fire with a
cigarette that he "carelessly threw away" while collecting
firewood on Jan. 3, the official Xinhua News Agency said late
Friday.
Liang was convicted Thursday by a court in the Guangxi region, a
poor, rural area on China's southern coast.
Investigators concluded Liang "tried but failed to control the
fire due to strong winds and soon left without informing anyone
else," Xinhua said. "The 11 dead were discovered the next day
when the fire was under control."
The dead included eight local government and forestry officials,
two forest rangers and a driver, Xinhua said.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)