Health authorities in southwest China's Chengdu City confirmed Monday another woman had died of serious injuries from a blaze that engulfed a bus in the city early last month, bringing the death toll to 28.
In a press release, the Health Department of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, identified the 28-year-old woman only by her family name as Zhou.
The statement said Zhou had been treated in Huaxi Hospital since June 5, the day of the blaze, but her condition suddenly deteriorated early Friday and she died on Sunday.
Zhou suffered burns to 94 percent of her body and a damaged lung from inhaling fumes in the blaze. Doctors had to conduct a tracheotomy when she developed acute respiratory failure.
"At 5 a.m. Friday, the patient suddenly fell into a coma, coupled with breathing difficulties, a falling blood pressure, and bleeding from her wounds and stomach," said the press release.
The fire occurred during morning rush hour of June 5 as a bus plying No. 9 bus route in Chengdu City was on its way from Tianhui Township to downtown Chengdu. It caught fire under a viaduct, killing 25 people on the scene and injuring 76 others.
Police concluded the fire was deliberately set by an unemployed man identified as Zhang Yunliang, 62, a native of Suzhou City in eastern Jiangsu Province. Zhang, who had temporarily lived in Chengdu before the blaze, died in the fire at the rear of the bus.
(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2009)
