Brought to workplace by parent, China boy destroys office after playing with fire

An office in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province was burned to ashes after a 12-year-old boy lit tissues in boredom, sparking a blaze that quickly escalated. 

One of the boy's parents, whose gender is unknown, had brought him to work on April 30, reported local media outlet Red Star News. 

The parent was reportedly busy with work and left the boy alone in the office. In a moment of boredom, the child decided to kill time by burning tissues with a lighter. 

This ignited clutter near the desk which quickly developed into a major fire and engulfed the office. The frantic boy then called his parent, who alerted firefighters, for help. 

The parent and other employees first tried to put out the fire with a extinguisher and managed to extinguish most of it before firefighters arrived. 

The fire was extinguished at around 4.50pm and no injuries were reported, according to local news portal QQ News. 

However, the losses from the blaze are estimated to be around tens of thousands of yuan. 

A firefighter at the scene told employees that children's curiosity and lack of safety awareness mean parents should supervise them closely.

The firefighter also urged the public to remain vigilant about fire safety.

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esther.lam@asiaone.com