The death toll in a fire that ripped through a hospital in China’s capital Beijing has risen to 29, a city official said on Wednesday. The fire at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital in the Fengtai District broke out at around 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) on Tuesday and was extinguished about half an hour later. Li Zongrong, deputy mayor of the district, expressed his “deep condolences” as he announced the new toll at a press conference. Twelve people, including the facility’s director, have been detained in connection with the fire, said Sun Haitao from Beijing’s public security bureau, adding that representatives from a company renovating the hospital were among those being held. State broadcaster CCTV reported that a preliminary probe revealed the blaze had been caused by “sparks generated during the internal renovation and construction of the inpatient department of the hospital”. The sparks “ignited the volatiles of the flammable paint on the site”, CCTV said. Social media users posted videos on Tuesday of people sitting on external air conditioning units, while others clinging to ropes jumped from the building. The victims were 16 women and 13 men, Li said. “We feel deep remorse and guilt,” he told journalists. “On behalf of the Fengtai district party committee and district government, I hereby express our deep condolences for the victims, and express our sincere respects to the victims’ families, the injured and their relatives, and apologise to the people of the whole city.” CCTV reported that out of the 29 dead, 26 were patients at the hospital, two were hospital staff and one was a patient’s family member. There were still 78 patients being treated at the hospital, who have been moved to the facility’s west building, CCTV said. State-run People’s Daily reported that as of Wednesday morning 39 people were being treated in the hospital with injuries, and another three had been discharged. Top city officials visited the hospital shortly after the fire, with Beijing party secretary Yin Li vowing to “quickly identify the cause of the accident and hold the relevant responsible persons accountable”, according to the Beijing Daily.