A fire broke out at an apartment building in the city of Shantou, in southern China's Guangdong province, killing 12 people, state media reported Wednesday, citing local authorities, according to AFP.
Flames broke out in the four-story building on Tuesday evening, and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire, according to the Xinhua news agency.
The images posted on social networks show an intense fire on the ground floor of the building and thick and gray smoke coming out of the windows of the upper floors, as well as the firefighters acting to save the residents, writes Agerpres.
Approximately 150 square meters were affected by the fire, Xinhua reported.
The tragedy follows a fire that devastated a residential complex in Hong Kong last month, killing 160 people.
Deadly fires occur regularly in China.
Twenty people died in early April in a fire at a nursing home in northern China.
The fire broke out on Tuesday evening. PHOTO Capture X Shenzhen Daily
In January, a fire at a vegetable market in Zhangjiakou, northwest of Beijing, killed eight people and injured 15 others.
