JILIN, China (AP) -- Jing Qiuyue and her friends were enjoying a soak at a third-floor bathhouse in a shopping mall when the building erupted in flames. Blinded by choking smoke, the women stripped sheets from massage tables, made a rope and climbed out a window into the wintry air.
``I kept praying over and over, 'God, please protect me.' It was impossible to breathe,'' the 47-year-old businesswoman said Monday from a hospital bed as investigators hunted for the cause of the fire that killed 53 people in northeastern China.
The blaze was one of two on Sunday in China that took at least 93 lives, dealing a setback to official promises to improve public safety after a string of deadly accidents.
Authorities blamed burning incense for the fire that destroyed a temple made of bamboo and straw in Wufeng, a village southwest of Shanghai, killing 40 women as they worshipped.
Police Monday arrested the temple's builder, Chen Jianliang, on charges of constructing it illegally, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
In Jilin, authorities were questioning 36 people to try to find the cause of the shopping mall blaze, which started in a storeroom next to a boiler room, said Sun Zhiwei, a city government spokesman.
Jing said she was halfway through her bath when the lights went out and she heard someone screaming there was a fire. Such bathhouses are a popular form of entertainment in China, offering saunas, massages and other services, and often are crowded on weekends.
``I threw on my clothes and ran,'' Jing said. ``My hair was dripping. I didn't even put on any shoes.''
Jing and her friends dashed from window to window, trying to get air as smoke filled the room.
``No lights, no doors,'' she said. ``I could only hear people yelling 'Help me!' I started screaming too.''
Jing and a friend found some sheets on massage tables, ripped them in half and fashioned a rope to climb out a window. She made her way down the rope after the friend, but it was too short, and both women were forced to drop to the ground. Jing broke her right leg.
``I don't know what happened to the rest of my friends,'' she said Monday, her face pale and voice soft.
Officials were looking into whether the shopping mall met safety standards and whether rescuers responded quickly, Sun said.
Even that admission that officials already were second-guessing their own handling of the disaster reflected the shift in official attitudes under President Hu Jintao, who since taking office in March has promised to make government more responsive and to focus on improving safety.
``We must learn lessons, rethink our work and improve and strengthen work safety,'' Sun said.
China suffers fires, coal mine accidents, bus crashes and other disasters every week that kill scores of people. In December, a gas well blowout that spewed toxic fumes across villages in the southwest killed 243 people.
In Wufeng, the burning temple collapsed on worshippers, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said the women were taking part in ``superstitious activities'' - the communist government's term for folk religion.
A villager contacted by telephone said the women used the temple to pray for the safety of children who have migrated to cities to look for work. He said the bamboo-and-straw structure was built to replace a brick temple that officials tore down several months ago.
The temple set amid orchards of mulberry bushes appeared to have been destroyed. Police sealed off the ruins with a line of blue plastic tape and a nylon curtain hung from poles.
The villager said he arrived at the temple hours after the fire.
``It was absolutely horrible, with dozens of black bodies clumped together,'' said the man, who refused to give his name.
In Jilin, hundreds of spectators huddled in 14-degree weather throughout the day, looking up at the gutted mall. Its broken windows were rimmed with icicles from water sprayed by firefighters.
Many said they saw people jumping from windows.
People on the top floor screamed for help for 40 minutes, said Ji Youyou, who runs a noodle shop across the street.
``I saw two men and one woman jump all together. They were all holding hands,'' Ji said. ``I heard loud thumps when they hit the ground.''
Ma Wenhai, a resident of the area, said he was out for a walk when he noticed something wrong.
``At first, all I saw was smoke, then more and more people appeared at the windows and were trying to escape,'' Ma said. ``It was a terrible, terrible tragedy.''
From her hospital bed, surrounded by relatives and bouquets of flowers, Jing said she is ``so grateful'' to be alive.
``I'm so happy now,'' she said. ``My soul is complete.''
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