BEIJING: Ten people were killed in a fire that broke out in a residential building in northern China on Friday morning, local authorities said.

Flames tore through the 38th floor of the apartment building in Tianjin, leaving 10 people dead and five people hospitalised with minor injuries, according to a social media account run by the city government.

An unknown number of “responsible personnel” are in custody while the cause of the fire is being investigated, the statement said.

A “rigorous probe” will be conducted to find “hidden dangers” that could cause future fires, it added.

An area of about 300 square metres was damaged, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing the local fire department.

The incident follows a fire that killed 19 in a low-income housing block in neighbouring Beijing, prompting mass evictions and demolitions around the capital under the premise that unsafe structures must be demolished.

Agence France-Presse