China apartment fire in Nanjing has left fifteen people dead and more than 40 injured, local authorities said, BBC reports.
According to the report by BBC, footage shared on social media showed flames and plumes of black smoke engulfing several floors of a skyscraper in Nanjing city.
Officials suggested that the China apartment fire started on the first floor of the building, where electric bikes were being stored.
But the specific cause of the fire remained under investigation.
The building is located in the Yuhuatai district of Nanjing, a city of more than eight million that lies about 162 miles (260km) north-west of Shanghai.
Emergency service crews were first alerted to the blaze at 04:40 local time (20:40 GMT) on Friday, officials said on Saturday morning.
Twenty-five fire engines and 130 firefighters were sent to tackle to the blaze. By 06:00 (22:00 GMT), the fire had been extinguished, with the search and rescue operation ending around 14:00.
Of the 44 injured people sent to hospital for treatment, one is in a critical condition and another seriously injured, the officials said.
At a press conference, Nanjing mayor Chen Zhichang offered his condolences and apologies to the victims’ families.
Aerial photos of the skyscraper shared on Friday after the fire had been extinguished showed some flats up the length of the building with blackened fronts.
At least 15 people have been killed and 44 injured in the fire at a residential building in eastern China’s Nanjing.
Fires and other deadly accidents often occur in China due to lax enforcement of safety standards.
A recent spate of deadly fires across the country prompted President Xi Jinping to call last month for “deep reflection” and greater efforts to “curb the frequent occurrence of safety accidents”.
The Nanjing fire comes a month after 13 schoolchildren, aged nine and 10, were killed after a fire broke out in a school dormitory in China’s Henan province.