A fire in an apartment building in northwestern China's Xinjiang region left at least 10 people killed and nine others injured, authorities announced on Friday.
Multiple state media reported that the major fire broke out Thursday night in the regional capital of Urumqi, where temperatures have dropped to below freezing after dark.
The reports indicated that the flames spread upward from the point of origin on the 15th floor to the 17th floor, with smoke billowing up to the 21st floor. The blaze lasted for around three hours before it was extinguished.
The deaths and injuries were caused by inhalation of toxic fumes, with those taken to hospital all expected to survive, according to media outlets.
An initial investigation showed that the fire was sparked by a power strip in a bedroom of one of the 15th-floor apartments.
This is the second deadly fire that China has seen this week after 48 people were killed in a blaze at an industrial trading company in the central city of Anyang.
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