Deadly Shantou house fire kills 12 members of four-generation family

CHINA: A residential building in Shantou, Guangdong province, caught fire on the night of 9 December, leaving 12 people dead.

According to a notice from the Chaonan District Fire Brigade, the fire erupted at about 9:20pm at a self-built, four-storey reinforced concrete home along Danfeng Road in Xiashan Subdistrict.

Fire crews extinguished the flames by 10:03pm, but the damage had already been catastrophic.

A Family Wiped Out

Local reports revealed that the victims belonged to the same family spanning four generations. Eight people were found dead at the scene, while four others were rushed to hospital but later died despite emergency treatment. The deceased included the shop owner’s parents, grandmother, younger brother, and the brother’s children.

Only the brother’s wife managed to escape, while the eldest son was not home at the time, according to the shop owner’s daughter. She said she had no idea why her family could not escape the upper floors during the blaze.

Cause Under Investigation

Authorities have ruled out criminal arson, and investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing. The building housed the family’s hardware and electronics shop on the lower level, with living quarters above—a common “shop downstairs, residence upstairs” setup found throughout the district.

Safety Concerns Over Small Businesses

The Chaonan district is known for its dense clusters of small workshops and mixed-use premises in electronics, cosmetics, textiles and other industries. Earlier this year, China’s National Fire and Rescue Administration noted that deaths from fires in small commercial premises had risen 39.5% in the first half of 2025.

They identified mixed-use buildings—where retail spaces sit directly beneath family living areas—as a major contributing risk. The tragic Shantou fire once again highlights the dangers of such structures and the urgent need for stronger safety standards.