16 suffer burns during Torch Festival in Yunnan

Sixteen people suffered burn injuries during the Torch Festival at a village in Xuanwei, Yunnan province on Thursday, according to a notice released by the Information Office of the People's Government of Xuanwei on Saturday.

At around 8:30 pm on Thursday, villagers from the Jianwen village held celebrations for the Torch Festival. While igniting torches with flammable liquid, a plastic bucket containing the liquid tipped over accidentally and caught fire, leaving 16 people at the scene with varying degrees of burns.

Authorities in Xuanwei dispatched staff from health, emergency management and public security departments to the site to treat the injured and maintain public order. All the injured are reported to be stable in hospital.

The Torch Festival is a major tradition of the Yi people, as well as Bai, Naxi, Lahu and other ethnic groups in southwestern China's Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, celebrated during the sixth month of the traditional Chinese calendar.

The event expresses people's wishes for good weather, abundant harvests and the well-being of their communities.