The Beijing Construction Committee is drafting a regulation to
restrict the construction of kindergartens, shops and restaurants
underground in the capital for safety reasons.
The draft regulation prohibits kindergartens, nursery schools
and in-patient departments of hospitals being set up in the
basements of buildings.
Recreation sites such as gyms, cinemas and restaurants will be
forbidden from being built on the second underground floor or
below. Shops and wholesale markets will be banned from the third
underground floor or below.
Production, storage and usage of flammable and explosive
chemical products, and usage of gasoline, coal and liquefied
petroleum gas, will also be forbidden underground.
The regulation also requires the installation of cameras to
monitor the main walkways and exits of underground places.
Many serious fires have occurred in recreation places
underground in China in recent years. A high density of people,
poor fire safety facilities and blocked evacuation channels caused
numerous casualties.
(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2006)
