Market blaze kills at least 16 in China

Beijing: At least 16 people were killed and 5 others injured in a major fire at a farmers` market in south China`s Shenzhen city on Wednesday, state media said.

The fire engulfed the Rongjiyan Agricultural Wholesale Market in Gongming New District of Shenzhen bordering Hong Kong at about 1 am local time, state broadcaster CCTV reported. It took nearly two hours for 145 fire fighters and 29 fire engines to put out the fire. It damaged an area of 1,000 square meters, the report said. As per last reports, fire fighters were still clearing the ember and searching for survivors in the debris. The hospitalised were in stable condition, the report said. In June, 121 people lost their lives after an inferno gutted a poultry processing plant in Northeast China`s Jilin province. Earlier in 2000, 309 persons were killed in a shopping centre blaze in central China`s Henan province.