Fires leave 399 dead, 258 injured in China from Jan. to July

 BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 46,653 fires broke out in China in the first seven months of the year, leaving 399 people dead and another 258 injured, the Ministry¹ of Public Security said Wednesday.

The number of fires and the death toll² saw year-on-year declines of 49.8 percent and 54 percent, respectively, according to a press release from the ministry.

The fires brought direct economic losses of 830 million yuan (130.4 million U.S. dollars), down 43.8 percent from last year.

Chinese firefighting forces saved 75,859 civilian³ lives, but 11 firefighters died during the period.

The country's firefighters have also inspected more than 2.89 million factories, companies and households in a fire control campaign that kicked off on June 19, eliminating more than 1.35 million potential hazards.

According to the ministry, a fire control system has been established in more than 14,000 villages and towns, which has contributed to the declines in both deaths and economic losses.

The ministry urged police forces at all levels to coordinate⁴ with social organizations to conduct an overall inspection⁵ for fire hazards and dangers in order to reduce fires and provide a better environment for the upcoming 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

5 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。