A fire in a building in northern China’s Shanxi province killed at least 26 people and sent dozens to hospital on Thursday, state media reported.
The fire affected a fourstory building belonging to the Yongju coal company in the city of Luliang, TV station CCTV reported.
The broadcaster confirmed the death toll as 26 dead. It was also reported that 63 people were evacuated from the building and 51 were hospitalized.
“Rescue work continues and the cause of the fire is being investigated,” the broadcaster added.
According to CCTV, the flames were brought under control after a few hours.
A video posted on the social network Weibo shows flames and smoke in the building and dozens of people screaming in the parking lot.
Workplace accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards and lack of compliance measures.
In July, eleven people died when the roof of a gymnasium collapsed in the northeast of the country.
A month earlier, 31 people were killed in an explosion at a restaurant in northwest China. In April, 29 people died in a fire at a hospital in Beijing.
One of the worst accidents occurred in 2015 in the city of Tianjin, near the capital, where an explosion in a chemical warehouse killed 165 people.
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