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Fire kills 13 in earphone plant in south China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-22 07:13

GUANGZHOU -- At least 13 people died and four were seriously injured when a fire engulfed an earphone factory in south China's Guangdong Province Thursday.

A rescuer performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a worker after pulling her out of a factory fire in Shantou, south China's Guangdong province, May 21, 2009. [Xinhua]

The ground floor of the five-storey factory caught fire at about 7 am and destroyed about 202 square meters of the building, a fire-fighter spokesman said.

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More than 150 fire-fighters and 13 fire appliances were dispatched to the accident site, in Shantou City, and put out the blaze at 10:05 a.m..

They recovered 13 bodies and rescued 28 people from the plant, but four suffered serious injuries. They are being treated at a local hospital.

The private plant is named after the owner, Zhang Peixiong.

Police are investigating the cause of the blaze.