Agence France Presse

Beijing, June 11:

At least 31 people were killed and 15 others were injured in a hotel fire in the worst blaze in China’s southern Guangdong province for 11 years, state media said today. The blaze broke out shortly after noon yesterday and engulfed the top three floors of the four-storey Huanan Hotel, located in a downtown district of Shantou city, the Xinhua news agency said quoting local officials. “This is the most fatal fire in the province since 1994,” Xinhua said. “The incident on June 10 was the most serious fire accident in our province in recent years, this lesson of blood serves as a reminder that we cannot be complacent over work safety issues,” Guangdong governor Huang Huahua was quoted by the Nanfang Daily newspaper as saying.

“The fire was put out around 4:00 pm... Many rooms were gutted,” said an officer on duty at the Chaonan district fire brigade, who refused to give further details. Four of the 15 injured, who were taken to Shantou’s Central Hospital, were in a serious condition, an earlier report said. No one at the Huanan Hotel or the hospital was available to comment today. It is unclear how many people were in the hotel at the time of the fire.