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Man dies in building fire in central China city

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-06 16:42

WUHAN -- A 35-year-old man was killed in a fire at a mixed commercial-residential building in downtown Wuhan City, central China's Hubei Province.

Fan Junhui, a worker hired by a shop in the building, was found dead by firefighters at 7 a.m. Friday in a warehouse on the third floor of the nine-story Yuanxiang Building, said Tan Renjie, spokesman of the Wuhan municipal government at a press conference.

Fifteen people, including 11 civilians and four firefighters and police officers, were hospitalized for smoke inhalation or sprains. Eight will be discharged from the hospital Friday.

One 88-year-old woman, who suffers from anemia and lung inflammation, was in life-threatening condition.

The fire broke out in a plastic products warehouse on the second floor of Yuanxiang Building in the Hanzhengjie Wholesale Market at about 9:50 a.m. Thursday.

It was extinguished around 11 p.m. on same day after more than 800 firefighters along with 79 fire engines were dispatched to the scene.

The ground, second and third floors are a mix of stores and warehouses. The rest of the building is residential, with 753 people in 177 households living there.

Most residents were evacuated to homes of their relatives, while 107 others were accommodated at four hotels for free near the Hanzhengjie Wholesale Market.

Police were investigating the cause of the fire and the local government was assessing the loss.