A series of ceremonies is being held this week for people to pay their respects to a Shanghai police officer who died on Friday from severe burns suffered as he tried to prevent a man setting fire to an apartment.

Police Captain Yan Dehai succumbed to respiratory failure after ten days' treatment at Changhai Hospital. Many of Yan's friends, colleagues and ordinary citizens have visited a temporary memorial hall set up at his former workplace since Saturday.

Yan and three other officers were hurt when Xu Yi, a 38-year-old city resident, set the apartment on fire on June 21 following a two-hour standoff with police, authorities said.

Yangpu District Police said Xu's motives remain under investigation as he continues to receive hospital treatment for burns. He had no record of mental illness, but had reportedly been acting "strangely" for days before the fire due to a property dispute with his tenant.

Yan, off duty at the time, was among the first to respond to the disturbance in the Yanji area.

"I hadn't expected he would come as he had been suffering from a severe waist injury for four days," said a team member named Liu. "He was receiving massage treatment at the hospital at the time."

The arriving officers found that Xu had locked himself into his apartment and threatened to set it on fire with two 10-gallon gasoline canisters that had been placed in the middle of the room.

When attempts to persuade Xu to open the door failed, police decided to take action.

"We were very careful to unlock the iron security door quietly, but we made a sound anyway," said team member Chen Yong. "At the sound Xu immediately lit the gasoline."

Though Chen was closest to the door, the police captain pushed him aside.

"He kicked the door open and dashed into the flames without any hesitation," Chen said.

Chen attempted to follow, but the explosive force of the burning gasoline slammed the door shut.

Yan managed to subdue Xu and prevented him from igniting the other barrel of gasoline, police said.

"I didn't know how to support him afterwards. He walked out of the room unsteadily and the skin was hanging off both arms," Chen told reporters.

"If it had not been for Captain Yan, it would have been me who was lying in a hospital," he said. The other officers suffered minor burns and were released after hospital treatment.

Details of Yan's funeral and other commemorative activities were still being worked out yesterday. Yan, a former athlete, joined the police force 17 years ago.

(Shanghai Daily July 4, 2005)