Another body found as city mourns those lost in SW China forest fire

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The body of 50-year-old Wang Huirong was discovered Thursday afternoon. She had gone missing after participating in a firefighting mission on March 30. Wang was a forestry official of Muli County in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

News of Wang's death came shortly after a memorial ceremony was held to mourn the 30 people killed while fighting the Muli County fire.

Among those killed were 27 firefighters, two local forestry officials and one civilian volunteer.

Officials, civilian representatives, and family members of the deceased attended the ceremony, which took place on Thursday morning in Xichang City.

Citizens of Liangshan show their condolences and respect to the people who died in the fire, Liangshan, April 4, 2019. /VCG Photo

All 30 people have been recognized as martyrs by the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Sichuan provincial government.

"Your names will be engraved in the mountain and locals' heart in Muli County," said Vice-Minister of Emergency Management Huang Ming at the ceremony.

Flags were lowered to half-mast, and all public entertainment activities were halted on Thursday, as Xichang City declared a day of public mourning.

Most of the firefighters killed were in their 20s, the youngest of whom was only 18.

"They were very young, really, too young," said one medical worker attending the ceremony. Local residents crowded streets surrounding the city's biggest public square where the ceremony was held.

The memorial ceremony, Xichang, April 4, 2019. /VCG Photo

Personal stories of the young firefighters have taken Chinese social media by storm. Twenty-eight-year-old Zhang Hao had just got married. Twenty-year-old Zhang Chengpeng was debating whether he should court a girl he admired. “Last time we had a chat, he told me he didn't think he'd be able to take care of her with him being away often," recalled one of Zhang's fellow firemen.

The forest fire broke out in the rugged mountains of Muli County at around 6 p.m. on March 30 at an altitude of around 3,800 meters. It's not immediately clear what ignited the fire, but dry weather and strong winds caused it to spread quickly.

"The flames rose dozens of meters high in a matter of seconds," recalled Hu Xianlu, a firefighter who managed to escape. "We were hopeless as we saw it."

Emergency management officials believe the firefighters and local volunteers were trapped in "a fireball" when winds suddenly shifted.

Family members of the deceased at the memorial ceremony, Xichang, April 4, 2019. /VCG Photo

For those who knew the deceased, the deaths of their loved ones is shattering. “We called out to our teammates who were lagging behind," recalled Zhao Maoyi, another firefighter. "Nobody answered," he said, weeping.

"The last time I looked at the 18-year-old teammate from Squad Five, I saw complete loss of hope on his face. Every night, he appears in my dream saying, 'Give me a hand.' His hands are burned ash-black," Zhao added.

Nearly 1,000 firefighters and several helicopters extinguished the fire on Tuesday. It was one of the deadliest of its kind in China in recent years.

(Cover image: The memorial ceremory held at the Torch Square, Xichang, April 4, 2019. /VCG Photo)