China: As many as 10 people were killed while nine others were injured after a fire broke out in an apartment building in China's Xinjiang region, police said on Friday.
According to officials, the blaze took three hours to extinguish. The fire broke out in the regional capital of Urumqi, where temperatures can drop below freezing point after dark.
The injured were all expected to survive and the cause of the fire is under investigation, the local government said. The tragedy comes days after 38 people died in a fire at an industrial trading company in central China caused by welding sparks that ignited cotton cloth.
Four people have been detained over the fire in the city of Anyang and local authorities ordered sweeping safety inspections.Aging infrastructure, poor safety awareness and, in some cases, government corruption has led to series of recent fires, explosions and building collapses around China, which continues to grapple with new Covid outbreaks, prompting lockdowns and rigid travel restrictions affecting millions of people.
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