Locals pay last respects to killed heroes in forest fire of southwest China

Reuters - Local residents on Tuesday gathered on the street of Xichang City in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, to pay their last respects to the 30 people killed in battle against a forest fire in the prefecture. At around 01:00 Tuesday, local residents of the city placed chrysanthemums and lit candles in the middle of the road to the funeral parlor, waiting for the convoy carrying the bodies. When the convoy drove by later, the crowd bade farewell to the heroes. The blaze broke out at around 18:00 Saturday in the mountains of Muli County at an altitude of over 3,800 meters. Local authorities dispatched 689 firefighters to quench the blaze. On Sunday afternoon, 27 firefighters and three locals went missing after a sudden change in wind direction caused an outburst of the blaze. According to the authorities on Monday, all the 30 people have been confirmed dead. The bodies were then escorted back to the funeral parlor of Xichang City.