10 killed in apartment fire in China’s port city Tianjin

A pre-dawn fire tore through an apartment in a high-rise building in the port city of Tianjin in northern China on Friday, killing 10 people and wounding five others, state media reported.

The fire broke out on the 38th floor of the building in Tianjin’s Hexi District around 4 a.m., according to the local fire department.

Ten people were killed, while five others were left injured in the inferno, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The flames were completely doused by 6:40 a.m. by the firefighters, even as an area of about 300 sq metres was damaged, it said.

What caused the inferno was yet to be ascertained, but it is believed to have started in an area with housing interior decoration materials.

The incident has prompted the local government to order a city-wide safety inspection, while traffic controls in the area have been lifted.

People believed to be responsible for the fire are being held for further investigation, the report said.

Friday’s incident was a reminder of a major explosion in Tianjin, which lies on the Bohai Sea coast about an hour east of Beijing, two years ago.

Over 170 people were killed and 700 injured when blasts ripped through a warehouse on August 12 night in Tianjin Port, where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide.

China suffers frequent deadly fires and industrial accidents, often blamed on negligence.

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