A shopping mall inferno killed 17 people in China, authorities said earlier today.
The fire broke out yesterday on the top floor of a four-storey building in Huidong county in the southern province of Guangdong, the local government said in a statement.
Rescue efforts took 18 hours and 17 people died, the Huidong government said on its verified account on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo.
A total of 270 firefighters and 45 fire engines were mobilised to extinguish the blaze, it added.
Nine managers of the mall, which contains an indoor market, a cinema and restaurants, have been detained by police and the cause of the accident was under investigation, said the statement.
The fire broke out in a warehouse facility, reports added.
