Two firefighters died on Friday, trying to prevent a fire at a Beijing shopping mall from turning into a catastrophe. Liu Hongkun and Liu Hongkui were trapped in the collapsing building and ran out of oxygen. They'd been trying to stop the blaze triggering a gas explosion.

Two firefighters died on Friday, trying to prevent a fire at a Beijing shopping mall from turning into a catastrophe.

When fire-fighters rushed to the scene at dawn, the west side of the Xi Long Duo shopping center was already engulfed in flames.

Chief of Staff Liu Hongkun wasn't on duty that day. But he volunteered to come to work to help tackle the fire.

At the scene, Liu knew the only way to stop the fire spreading was to attack it from within.

He led two teams into the heavy smoke, and managed to contain the blaze. But he then found the fire was spreading up the stairs to the fourth floor.

Floor four housed a restaurant. Liu knew the damage could be catastrophic if the flames reached the restaurant's gas supply.

"Chief of Staff Liu was aware of the danger and knew the mission required someone with lots of experience. So he went up to assess the situation, along with veteran fire-fighter Liu Hongkui," said Zhu Jianguo, director of Badachu Fire Station.

28-year-old Liu Hongkui had fulfilled hundreds of missions since joining the army eight years ago. The pair managed to reach the fourth floor, completely blinded by the smoke. Their colleagues never heard back from them.

"I heard Chief of Staff Liu say the alarm was going off on his oxygen tank and they needed back-up. He then made another call and never replied again," said Li Fei, communications officer in Shi Jing Shan Fire Station.

It took about 7 hours to put the fire out. It took four more hours to find the bodies of Liu Hongkui and Liu Hongkun. They were buried under the ruins at a corner of the fourth floor. They were holding each other in a close embrace.

All firefighters on the operation teared up when the ambulance took the bodies away.

Liu Hongkun leaves behind a six-year-old daughter while Liu Hongkui had only recently got married in May.

No civilians died in the blaze.

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