Village building fire FOUR people were confirmed dead and five others are being treated after a fire broke out early Thursday morning at a self-built structure in the Dongxindian Village, Chaoyang District, Beijing, local authorities said. Preliminary investigation shows the accident was triggered after an electric bicycle caught fire. The fire had been extinguished as of 3:43 a.m. and 54 people had been evacuated, according to the fire department in Chaoyang District. Alert for thick fog CHINA’S national observatory renewed an orange alert Thursday for thick fog in some parts of the country. Heavy fog is expected to affect parts of Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Chongqing, according to the observatory. New expressway A NEW segment of the Beijing-Xiong’an expressway opened to traffic Thursday, marking the completion of the entire expressway, according to China’s transport authority. The direct expressway between Beijing and Xiong’an New Area, in Hebei Province, will reduce the driving time between Beijing’s southwestern fifth ring road to Xiong’an New Area to an hour, the Ministry of Transport said. | 