Beijing hospital fire claims 29 lives, caused by electric sparks

The death toll has risen to 29 after a fire on Tuesday at Beijing Changfeng Hospital. A preliminary investigation found the cause to be electric sparks caused by modification work, city authorities said at a Wednesday press briefing. The deadly incident prompted the city government to conduct city-wide safety hazard checks. Among the dead, 26 were patients and one was family member of a patient, in addition to one care worker and one nurse, an official confirmed at the press conference.

tips

claim：声称；要求；造成...的死亡

toll：死亡人数；通行费；vt. 征收

preliminary：初步做法；初步的

investigate：调查，研究（invest 投资）

press：压；新闻舆论；（the press 新闻工作者）

brief：n. 摘要；简报；a. 简短的，短暂的（briefing n. 简报）

press briefing：新闻发布会

hazard：危险 ⚠️

patient：病人（pati 忍受，词源同 passion 强烈情感）

conference：会议（confer 授予；带来；vi. 协商）