Two FireFighters plunge to their deaths in apartment blaze

[Ciarán]

Firefighters were called to kitchen fire in apartment block in Shanghai yesterday.

Qian Lingyun, 23, and Liu Jie, 20, were trying to extinguish 13th floor blaze

Explosion threw Liu over balcony, but Qian managed to grab his arm

Qian tried to pull Liu to safety, but weight proved too much for him

Pair plunged hand-in-hand to their deaths on the pavement below

Spokesman praised men 'guarding one another in life, inseparable in death'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2618641/Tragic-moment-two-firefighters-blown-13th-floor-window-building-trying-save.html

 

This is really tragic, My condolences go out to the FireFighters families. These men are true heroes R.I.P

[Hodgey.]

R.I.P

[XJpostman]

Only a true hero would give his life for a friend. They are 1 in a million. R.I.P.

[Vanto]

Those are true friends, RIP.

[Killerdude]

Needs to be more people out there like these guys, Looking out for others, to the bitter end, Rather than at each others throats the whole time.

R.I.P.

[Beautiful Disaster]

Oh my gosh, how horribly sad...

[RedBull FM]

True friends, real heros. God bless their souls.

 

R.I.P

[SoftTouch]

R.I.P.

 

Both of them were heroes.

[FAH-Q]

Our city of Boston just had 2 brave firefighters die in a fire as well. Heroes indeed!

[lil weasel]

The railings look pretty hight (over three and half feet), how did the firefighter manage to get over it. And, then how did the other get pulled over?

[Ciarán]

The railings look pretty hight (over three and half feet), how did the firefighter manage to get over it. And, then how did the other get pulled over?

I don't know if you read it all, but there was an a explosion which was strong enough to push the Firefighter over and the combined weight of all their equipment was too much which led them to their fate.

[Sussus Amongus]

R.I.P now those are some true friends right there. I wonder how scary it would be to fall off a building from that high up knowing that you will face a young and painfull death. Well i dont want to know but still. R.I.P

[lil weasel]

 

The railings look pretty hight (over three and half feet), how did the firefighter manage to get over it. And, then how did the other get pulled over?

I don't know if you read it all, but there was an a explosion which was strong enough to push the Firefighter over and the combined weight of all their equipment was too much which led them to their fate.

 

That is something I would like to see animated. Forty-two inch railings (if that is what I saw) aren't something to just flip over, there is a reason railings were raised from thirty-six to forty-two inches. It just doesn't seem correct to me that one was 'blown' over it. I think there is more to it. Edited May 3, 2014 by lil weasel

[WTFThisIsntWii]

 

 

The railings look pretty hight (over three and half feet), how did the firefighter manage to get over it. And, then how did the other get pulled over?

I don't know if you read it all, but there was an a explosion which was strong enough to push the Firefighter over and the combined weight of all their equipment was too much which led them to their fate.

 

That is something I would like to see animated. Forty-two inch railings (if that is what I saw) aren't something to just flip over, there is a reason railings were raised from thirty-six to forty-two inches. It just doesn't seem correct to me that one was 'blown' over it. I think there is more to it.

 

 

You'd be surprised at the force from the shock waves. Some information if anyone cares to read it. When an explosion occurs there's three type of injuries. Primary injuries are caused by the overpressure waves, they normally only affect those right up close to the blast zone. Example collapsed lungs, brain damage. Essentially the type that will wreck your insides and kill you. If you have ever seen The Hurt Locker, it's what happened to the soldier at the start where he died with just a nose bleed because his insides were bleeding but there are no external injuries.

 

Secondary injuries occur from any fragments or objects propelled by the explosion. For example in a frag grenade if the blast doesn't kill you the fragments will injure you pretty well.

 

Tertiary injuries are those injuries caused by shock waves, the wave that occurs shortly after the initial blast. The waves can be quite powerful and will throw you a fair distance causing broken bones and blunt force trauma.

 

In this case these guys could of easily been picked up and thrown or knocked off balance causing one of them to fall over the balcony railing. However in this case I could be wrong. I believe the blast wave was enough to knock out the glass panels between the metal stuts in the railing. You can see in one of the aftermath photos the glass is missing. I'd say the poor blokes been knocked under the railing not over (the area where the glass should of been). It was likely they were already crouched or low to the ground for increased stability, less smoke inhalation and reduce the affect of any blast waves by minimising your profile. The wave most likely hit him he's stumble back fallen under the railing and managed to grab the metal bar, unfortunately wasn't able to pull himself up due to the wait of the equipment. I'd say the second guy wasn't standing either and was lying on the ground trying to pull him up, causing him to also slip and fall under the railing.