Restaurant fire kills 17 in Changchun, northeast China
- Firefighters brought the blaze under control on Wednesday afternoon and three survivors were sent to hospital for treatment
- The owner of the restaurant has been detained as investigations into the cause of the fire get under way
A restaurant fire has killed 17 people and injured three in Changchun, northeastern China.
Preliminary investigations suggested that that the accident had been caused when a leak from a tank of liquefied gas exploded, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Local authorities said the fire broke out at 12.40pm on Wednesday and firefighters had rescued survivors and contained the blaze by 3pm. The injured were sent to hospital for treatment.
A video circulating on social media platform Weibo shows heavy smoke coming from the restaurant, which faces a street in the city in Jilin province.
Authorities said the owner of the restaurant is in custody.
The emergency management ministry has ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire and dispatched a working team to the site.
The local fire rescue team has dispatched 13 vehicles and 60 people to carry out fire fighting and rescue work, the ministry added.
In June, one person was killed after a fire broke out at a Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co plant.
