North China’s market fire kills 8 people, investigation underway

A fire at a vegetable market in China’s northern province of Hebei killed eight people and wounded 15, state television CCTV said on Saturday.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire in the city of Zhangjiakou, which was doused just over an hour after it broke out at about 8:40 a.m., the broadcaster added.
Huge, dark billows of smoke hung over the market in the city’s Qiaoxi district, videos posted by other media on China’s Weibo microblogging site showed, along with large flames.
“The injured have been sent to hospital for treatment and are currently not in life-threatening danger,” CCTV said after the blaze in Zhangjiakou city.
Identified as the Liguang vegetable market in some media, it opened in 2011 and sells items ranging from fruit and seafood to electronics, company data provider Qichacha said.




