Chinanews, BEIJING, Jan. 2 - Nearly 223,000 fires occurred in China last year, leaving 1,517 people dead and 1,418 injured, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Monday.

 

"The number of fires decreased by 5.6 percent from the previous year, the death toll down by 39.3 percent and the number of injured dropping by 43.5 percent," said a spokesman for the ministry's fire control bureau.

 

Fires caused 784 million yuan (98 million U.S. dollars) in losses, down 42.6 percent over 2005, he said.