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Beijing CCTV Building On Fire, News Censored

by on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 100 comments

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Around 9:00pm on February 9th, the CCTV building in Beijing caught on fire. Chinese netizens quickly reported the news on the internet, with many pictures and videos. Soon, netizens began wondering why there were no television news reports about the fire, and then many websites like Sina and NetEase began removing pictures or locking disussion topics about the CCTV fire.

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Some netizens said witnesses originally could see some flashlights shining out of the windows of the CCTV building trying to get help. However, as the fire burned, there were fewer and fewer flashlights. In the end, there were no more flashlights.

A Hong Kong news report (Chinese Cantonese):

A collection of CCTV Fire videos on NetEase. Some videos also show fireworks celebrating Lantern Festival and the last day of Chinese New Year.

A collection of live reports and pictures by Z0la/Zu0la is on Google (Chinese).

Some more pictures on Wonitata.

On KDS is this notice that is supposedly from the government telling website moderators to stop reporting of the CCTV Fire on news websites, BBS, and blogs. This includes no more posting pictures, videos, and to only use the Xinhua report:

beijing-cctv-building-fire-government-censorship-notice

The building that was on fire was not the main CCTV building with the interesting shape that many Chinese have nicknamed “The Big Underpants” although many netizens thought so during early reports. However, this building had the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Comments on Tianya:

No way? I am currently watching the CCTV Lantern Festival Show! Is the signal going to get cut off?
It cannot be that 冏 [coincidental], could it? OMG!

The Big Underpants is on fire~
What is the little chicken [penis] going to do??

Cut it off, it is all burnt…

It is a bit crispy, but better crispy than none at all~

So many things happening…could it be yet another eventful year?

No big deal, tomorrow CCAV [a nickname for "CCTV"] will PS [Photoshop] some pictures to clear up the rumors.
The picture will only have a few performers simply smoking on the roof.

It is good that it is burning, it would be best if CCAV was burned completely.

Although it is not the Big Underpants…
the intensity of the fire is really big. Hopefully there are no casualties.

This is the fastest growing topic I have ever seen…

So fireworks really do have advantages and disadvantages~~~

Still, there are no television channels broadcasting live.
Can fireworks actually cause this big of a fire?
I am looking forward to the truth.
Of course, I know there will not be the truth.
I hope there is no one inside.
New year’s
blessing.

Why are there so many people who cannot control their excitement that this is burning?

If it is about CCTV, it will arouse people’s attention.

When I first glanced at the picture on the first page, I thought of 9/11.
Such a large fire with such a tall building, it is very difficult to save.

Oh my, so scary, praying praying, if it is going to burn before the new year, then it will burn, as long as everyone is safe.

Those above gloating at other’s misfortunes can all go to hell. With such a large fire, I bet there will be some firefighters who will sacrifice their lives.

So terrible, there are probably a lot of people inside, what can they do? So high. If the power was cut off, they cannot even use the elevators.
My prayers are with them.

The fire has been extinguished now. Here are some pictures posted on KDS:

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Some netizens have discovered the cause of the fire:

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More news about CCTV Fire from other English China blogs:

See Also:

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  1. Cherriiiba
    Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:05 pm

    The CCT building didn’t collapse at near free fall speed, like the 47 story tall “Building 7″ at the World Trade Center complex on 9-11, because controlled demolition wasn’t used. Jet fuel, office equipment, furniture, etc. doesn’t burn hot enough to liquify steel. Thermite does, and the fact that scientists found evidence of it at the World Trade Center is being covered up. Maybe the Chinese government censored this story because they too do not want us to see that, despite being fully engulfed in flames for many hours, the CCT Building didn’t collapsed.

    Reply
  2. Nathan C
    Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:13 pm

    @Cherriiiba
    WTC conspiracy theory is always there, some believe, other don’t… its common for Chinese gov to first censored the news until the fact is known before releasing it out to the public…
    Well, this show chinese construction is good… see better than WTC… :)

    Reply
  3. Peteryang
    Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:40 pm

    I refuse to believe it’s fireworks.

    It was an obvious ATTACK, how can fireworks ignite anything inside the building from outside??????????? DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. the whole complex was basically empty, concrete and steel do NOT burn even a kid knows this, and construction materials deposited in the building should have insulation coating as a no-brainer requirement, this is a freaking iconic thing for China, it doesn’t just go down by accidents, no fucking way, it must be CALCULATED.

    and what proves my suspicion the most is that they claimed the cause only half a day after the incident, it just doesn’t work like that, they were so flurried that they didn’t even make a fancy report!!!

    Reply
  4. Watchoutfortheagents
    Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 11:32 pm

    Remember WTC7?

    You just seen exactly what happens to a building engulfed in fire. Did it collapse into it’s own footprint? NO?

    Did it fracture upward and explode upward? No.

    Did office fires on 8 floors cause a “new phenomenon” of thermal expansion to initiate “global collapse?” NO! (versus complete sagging of steel by 50 inches in WTC 1,2, the complete opposite)

    Sure, STEEL CAN BE significantly weakened starting 1000c. However, as you just witnessed, a building engulfed in fire cannot sustain the temepeture needed for global, near free-fall collapse, ala WTC towers. So you really believe that:

    1.) Jet fuel can sustain and raise tempeture to cause massive steel buckling of up to 50”; experiements shows steel in fire can buckle up to 5”, but only after sustained fire which occurs after significant fire retardant has been striped (I suppose you can argue that the jet striped away the fire retardant. But is it still enough to cause near free-fall collapse? Molten steel? Dust particles? Obvious upward and lateral ejection of materials?)

    2.) A 47 story building can be collapsed at free-fall speed initiated by office fire ONLY on merely 8 floors, and at the time of collapse these fires have mostly been out.

    3.) Complete and total collapse of THREE STEEL buildings ON THE SAME DAY, all within 5 hours of each other. With distinct contracdictions in the offical explanation of collapse amongst these buildings, that: 1.) Two buildings’ steel weakened and buckled downward, whiile 2.) The I beams in the other building expanded laterally to initiate global collapse. All on the same day.

    Haha! Must all be the shitty engineering and the retarded fire codes. LOL.

    .Now you may go: hmm, but did CCTV sustain heavy debris damage? No. However, we still know that even with heavy damage WTC (WTC 7 AT LEAST) still should not collapse the way it did, ala controlled demolition. Now something is just not right here.

    *Interest side note (obviously circumstantial evidences):

    - A few month before 9/11 it was reported workers have been working non-stop on something. The company responsible is an industry experts in new DEMOLITION tech.

    - Just so happens the entire elevator system in WTC 1,2 was “refurbished” before 9/11.

    -A new “fire retardant” was put in place before 9/11.

    Reply
  5. Gnah
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 1:27 am

    Of course, it did not collapse, just like no other building in flames ever did, apart from the WTC.

    *stroking chin*

    Reply
  6. richard
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 8:52 am

    Did Yang Rui, host of CCTV “Dialogue”, get burned up in his office?

    No.

    Damn!

    Reply
  7. Howard
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:02 am

    Facts: Sina or Sohu did not censor the news about CCTV complex fire.

    http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-02-10/151517185640.shtml

    Reply
  8. Miou
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:52 am

    Hey, guys.
    I’m not saying that burning on that huge building is a good thing. I hope there were no one got hurt from that accident. But I still remember few weeks ago, when I walked by that huge building, I felt bad and shameful about poor people who live far away from Beijing. CCTV spent lot of money on that luxury building but who would care about the poor people? How about the children of poor people? Some of them dont even have chance to get education. On the streets of most cities, I can see there are so many young begger who should go to school instead. China is trying hard to make it looks beautiful, but actually ugry. I’m Chinese..But I have to say, China needs more improve.

    Reply
  9. TheOrz
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:02 pm

    @Watchoutfortheagents

    I’m totally with you at how ridiculously suspicious it all is, however, there is one huge piece missing to the idea of 9/11 as an inside-job. Not a single person has leaked anything at all! With so many people involved in setting up such a thing, how is it possible that we don’t get a single leak!!! There are leaks all the time of all sorts of shit the gov. doesn’t want to get out, but not on 9/11.

    Reply
  10. Watchoutforagent
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    Haha. Yep. That is the one I have to use a bunch of shit (basically it all eventually lead to aliens or evil gods) to explain…

    Then again… false flag terror have occurred before. And these people have been historically fucking shit up (human nature?) So who knows WTF is really going on.

    Still… I’m pretty convinced about the you know what.

    Reply
  11. Tom2
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    All of these comments and no thank you for Peter Yang for breaking the story on ChinaSMACK – has it been done before where a contributor to a thread has broken the news on the next ChinaSMACK story – Fauna is not an award in order?

    Who done it? If it was really a bad decision of a CCTV cadre that caused a 5 billion Yuan building to burn down; surely his head will roll? If a senior offical is shown to be responsible and gets some serious time for his error, then perhaps the story can come to rest?

    I like the sentiment of Miou’s comment. I don’t see how a fancy CCTV building does anything for the real-real population of north China. Was the farmer going to get a better picture on his 42” flat screen?

    Reply
  12. Fauna
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    Hi Tom2,

    I was busy finding finding information to prepare this post when Peteryang made a comment with a link to Youku video. I was also busy reading the fighting comments in the Xidan Girl post. But you are right.

    Thank you, Peteryang.

    Reply
  13. jayman
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    I agree that the initial censorship was probably to allow the party to get a handle on the situation, and decide how to present the matter. I’m sure it didn’t help that firefighter’s equipment couldn’t reach past the 14th floor.

    from all the evidences available, it is a premediated attack

    I thought it was said to be an accident? Is there any evidence that this is terrorism, domestic or otherwise? Insurance fraud is a definite possibility, especially since the owner of the building claims to be involved in setting the fire.

    But really if terrorists were able to set up an attack wouldn’t opening night be a better time to pull the trigger? Or any time when there were people inside? Empty buildings aren’t very demoralizing, really, though I mean no disrespect to the firefighter who lost his life.

    Jet fuel, office equipment, furniture, etc. doesn’t burn hot enough to liquify steel. Thermite does, and the fact that scientists found evidence of it at the World Trade Center is being covered up

    Former BYU professor Steven E. Jones, the originator of the thermite theory, has been interviewed by mainstream news sources and has made quite a number of (paid) public appearances. His ideas have been given ample and widely recognized consideration. The reason no one takes him seriously is because he’s wrong.

    His evidence rests on a photograph which he claims shows evidence of beams cut during the attack to cause a collapse. But earlier pictures of the same area taken by Joel Meyerowitz, the first photographer allowed on Ground Zero, show those beams were cut later by clean up crews, for removal.

    Jones also refuses to submit his “research” for independent peer review, and his theory ignores basic facts about the way thermite works.

    they too do not want us to see that, despite being fully engulfed in flames for many hours, the CCT Building didn’t collapsed

    Only three steel frame high rise structures have collapsed after a fire, ever. Two were hit with jumbo jets, one was hit with a falling building. The fire at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel would have collapsed the building if it support beams had been damaged.

    WTC conspiracy theory is always there, some believe, other don’t

    There are serious problems with the official story of the events of 9/11. No one can deny that. The most glaring example is how the BBC reported the collapse of Building 7 when it was still clearly visible in the sky over their reporter’s shoulder.

    But most conspiracy theorists are more concerned with selling books and videos and appearances, and asking for donations on their websites. Meanwhile you can find those same ideas debunked for free on youtube and on the websites for peer reviewed journals. How can you trust a man who’s telling you a story for his dinner?

    construction materials deposited in the building should have insulation coating as a no-brainer requirement

    Like the nightclub that dropped molten soundproofing materials out of the ceiling after a fireworks display?

    A few month before 9/11 it was reported workers have been working non-stop on something.

    Who reported?

    There are leaks all the time of all sorts of shit the gov. doesn’t want to get out, but not on 9/11.

    I also wonder that. If it’s truly a conspiracy, why hasn’t there been a reporter getting a phone call to meet someone in a shadowy garage? America has a long and glorified tradition of whistle blowers. Maybe there are a ton of extremely interesting deathbed confessions waiting for us in half a century or so.

    Reply
  14. Peteryang
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 5:18 pm

    I thought it was said to be an accident? Is there any evidence that this is terrorism, domestic or otherwise? Insurance fraud is a definite possibility, especially since the owner of the building claims to be involved in setting the fire.

    But really if terrorists were able to set up an attack wouldn’t opening night be a better time to pull the trigger? Or any time when there were people inside? Empty buildings aren’t very demoralizing, really, though I mean no disrespect to the firefighter who lost his life.

    —————————————————

    opening night?? you kidding me, I am a beijinger, I have first hand experiences in the kind of security we had in place for olympics, if the government didn’t want a bee to fly into beijing, it just could not, let alone an attack.

    and they could have made a very promising report on this incident, I mean they have a REPUTATION of bulling to the public, but this time they only offered a couple of words, which leaves a huge room for rumors to fly around.

    Reply
  15. Yabo
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    @ people who think 9/11 was an inside job: You’re stupid.

    Reply
  16. Watchoutfortheagents
    Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 11:14 pm

    jayman:

    Steve Jones claims that he found evidence of thermite (sorry, not sure which one exactly. I’m not a physics nor engineer) in the dust particles.

    How exactly do you explain the molten steel found underneath WTC 1,2,3.

    As for the collapse itself. All some people want is independent review of all the simulation results. The simulations which a lot of the so called theories are not 100% and needs to be PEER-REVIEWED themselves.

    This is the same counter arguments seen everywhere else. I don’t feel that you have debunked anything. You debunked nothing.

    [quote]
    But most conspiracy theorists are more concerned with selling books and videos and appearances, and asking for donations on their websites. Meanwhile you can find those same ideas debunked for free on youtube and on the websites for peer reviewed journals. How can you trust a man who’s telling you a story for his dinner?
    [/quote]
    I’m sure. But then I know quite a few engineering (student) types who believes in this shit. Plus, there are a growing number of credible professionals in the so called truth movement. I’m sure a few are in it for the money, but others feels incredulous about the whole thing just as I.

    Let’s NOT EVEN talk about WTC1,2. Just explain to me how WTC 7 can collapse at near free fall speed in under 7 sec.

    Explain to me the numerous (recent too) report regarding admission along the line that they “planned to bring it down, no matter what. If it falls by it’self, then the better. And incredibily it actually fell).

    …

    I will have to dig the WTC1,2 construction thing later.

    Not everyone is stupid just because they want to find out the truth for themselves.

    Reply
  17. John Doe
    Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    How can a building like this burn so fast???? What were the windows made of? Highly combustible polymer??? One has to wonder if this accident is really a blessing in disguise. What if this building caught fire like this when full of people? Then what?

    Reply
  18. fireworks
    Friday, February 13, 2009 at 2:53 pm

    the “big underpants” has his pants on fire. its embarrassing for the owners because they spent huge somes of money to build it and having it go up in smokes because of careless sparklers or what have ya, its just don’t give a good image of people in charge.

    Reply
  19. Peteryang
    Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 11:22 am

    READ THIS CRITICAL UPDATE!

    I think I have reliable info on the cause. the fireworks that ignited the building was military type transported directly from Lanzhou military base to beijing using service vehicles (presumably with the consent of some top leader), and apparently the local police chief weren’t powerful enough to stop them because CCTV is a ministerial authority.

    according to this piece of information, the prime responsibly lies in CCTV itsef, instead of some “unapproved persons” as state media claimed.

    two responsible people have fled from beijing, and CCTV has succeeded in finding scapegoats, that is also why the news were briefly censored.

    Reply
  20. Peteryang
    Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 11:24 am

    and do not ask me where I got this, not going to tell ya.

    Reply
  21. Name
    Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    Still doesn’t explain how the fire got so big so quickly though. High explosive fireworks (I’m guessing used for simulation/training purposes) could have broken the windows but since it was an unfinished unfurnished concrete, steel, and glass building the fireworks should have just burned themselves out.

    Reply
  22. Peteryang
    Monday, February 16, 2009 at 9:04 am

    they say some blazing pieces slipped into the building and set off the stuff inside, god knows how.

    Reply
  23. Terrance
    Monday, February 16, 2009 at 4:20 pm

    There’s always a good possibility that a couple sneaked in on a romantic evening with candles to have sex in the soon to be opened to public building, and accidentally kicked candles in sleep, waking up too late, to flames already spread.

    Reply
  24. Perrot-Bothuan
    Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    FREE TIBET
    FREE TIBET
    FREE TIBET
    FREE TIBET
    FREE TIBET
    FREE TIBET………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

    Reply
  25. El Chino
    Friday, April 10, 2009 at 1:38 am

    The Chinese Government is run by an inept bunch of total idiots! They make the Three Stooges look like geniuses! hah!

    They come from a backward mentality, totally out of touch with reality.
    How stupid, their foolish attempts at cover-ups and deception; it insults everyone’s intelligence that they think they can pull the wool over everyone’s eyes!
    It only goes to show how they themselves are so stupid!

    We should never have had the Olympics in China. Period!

    Reply
  26. Hally
    Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 3:47 pm

    Does nobody in China think these buildings are beautiful? I think these buildings are masterpieces designed by one of the best architects in the world. Most new buildings in China are so boring, but these are different, so wonderful. It is a shame that China does not take care very well about the work of Rem Koolhaas.

    Reply
  27. dingo
    Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 2:39 pm

    Further proof that the 9/11 WTC collapse from fires near the top were pre-planned controlled demolition! Cheney should swing! Hey, Bush too…

    Reply
  28. fl1999
    Friday, April 10, 2009 at 2:00 am

    sorry for typos its late:

    military-type fireworks? did the party goers weare military-type red clown noses?

    Reply
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