BEIJING (AP) — An early morning fire in a building housing a recycling company killed 15 people and severely injured three others in southern China, the Shenzhen city Web site said Wednesday.
The fire in Shenzhen, a booming industrial city in Guangdong province, broke out several hours before dawn, a statement on the Web site said. It took three hours to put the fire out.
It said 15 people were confirmed dead at the scene. Firefighters rescued six from the building, but three others were taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The cause of the fire was being investigated.
The fire started on the first floor of the building, where a recycling company called Long Fei was based.
''This company let people live where many flammable waste products were stored. This caused the deaths,'' the statement said.
Industrial fires are common in China because of poor safety practices and a lack of proper equipment.
