Sprinklers could have saved Connie Zhang from Bankstown apartment death leap

A much-loved, talented student who died after jumping from a burning Sydney apartment block would probably still be alive if the defective building had sprinklers, the NSW coroner says.

A CORONER has called for all new apartment buildings under 25m to be fitted with sprinklers in each unit following the death of a 21-year-old university student who dropped to her death from a burning building.

Pingkang “Connie” Zhang died when she jumped or fell from a fifth floor window of the Euro Terrace at Bankstown to escape a fire that ripped through a unit on September 6, 2012.

Tenant Yinuo “Ginger” Jiang survived the jump from the same window but shattered her legs and hips leaving her wheelchair bound.

Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon found the building was 10 cm short of the 25m height where sprinklers become mandatory in units.

He said sprinklers in the unit would have given the two women time to be rescued, instead the heat inside the unit reached at least 600 degrees in minutes causing the aluminium frame of the window to burn Ms Jiang’s arm before she jumped.

“If sprinklers had been installed through out this building it’s very likely that both Connie and Ginger would have survived without serious injury,” he said.

Survivor....Yinuo “Ginger” Jiang

Death leap....Connie

Mr Dillon recommended that the Australian Building Codes Board change the National Construction Code to make sprinklers mandatory in all new Class 2 and 3 residential buildings which means buildings under 25m.

The parents of Ms Zhang Vincent and Julie Zhu said in a statement read out by their lawyer David Evenden that although they welcomed the Coroner’s finding they remained “tormented” by the death of their only child.

“Connie’s parents want people to know their daughter’s death could have been avoided. If fire sprinklers were installed Connie Zhang would be alive today,” Mr Evenden said.

Mr Dillon said the dramatic images in the media of the two women hanging onto the window before they jumped had moved many people in the community.

“The image of Connie and Ginger on the ledge outside their apartment remains a vivid memory for many.”

Julie Zhu, parents of Connie, leaving Glebe Coroners Court after the inquest

The apartment block in Bankstown where in September 2012 Connie Zhang died after jumping from a fifth floor window to escape the burning building. Picture: Jonathan Ng

He found the ferocious fire began on the balcony of the unit most likely when flatmate, Jianwel “Jason” Zeng put out a cigarette.

He said Zeng left the balcony door open and fled by the front door using a dumb bell to leave the fire safety door open to allow the girls to escape.

“Opening the two doors, however, created a wind tunnel. Winds that day in the Bankstown area were strong and gusty and blowing into the balcony. These were two fatal mistakes by Zeng,” he said.

Mr Dillon said the fact the building had an unapproved roof covering the internal atrium allowed poisonous smoke to build up in the building, injuring more residents.

Firefighters rescued 53 other residents from the building that day.

The inquest had heard evidence that fire safety problems with the building had been identified in 2010 but nothing substantial had been done to improve it by the time of the fire.

He described Bankstown City Council’s “slow” attempts to make builder Ray Finianos comply with fire safety regulations as a “two year paper war” that was seen by all involved as “a form of regulatory homework rather than as a tool for improving the actual safety of residents.”

Mr Dillon made six recommendations to the NSW Government, The Australian Building Codes Board and the Sydney Water Corporation to improve fire safety regulation in apartments.