Beijing closes net cafes after blaze

Beijing shut down Internet parlours throughout the city after a roaring blaze killed 24 people at an unlicensed Cyber cafe.

But as college students hunted fruitlessly for a place to log on, some wondered whether one of China's freest arenas of expression had been made a scapegoat to poor government supervision of the often seedy, smokey bars.

"It's a hassle, a real hassle," said one student who declined to give his name. "Twenty-four people dying is pretty bad, but the reaction is extreme."

China's tight controls on the Internet and Web cafes have driven many operators underground, where they operate illegally behind locked doors to avoid scrutiny in their rush to serve millions of people seeking Internet access.Computer science major Fan Xuyu of People's University summed up the sentiment of many about the ban.

"Our world has become a little smaller," he said.At least 24 people were killed and 13 injured when the fire swept through the packed Lanjisu Cafe in a university district of Beijing early on Sunday morning in what the official Xinhua news agency labelled the city's worst fire in 50 years.

The blaze drew a swift response from government leaders - Mayor Liu Qi ordered the immediate closure of all Internet cafes in the city and fire inspections for all buildings over the next three months.