Three dead in China market blaze

Teams of firefighters worked to control the blaze

Three firefighters were killed in north-west China as they battled to contain a blaze in a market complex, state media reported.

The fire started at the 12-storey Dehui International Plaza in Urumqi, capital of the remote Xinjiang region, late on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency said.

Almost 200 firefighters tackled the blaze, which spread to a hotel.

The hotel has now been evacuated, but it is not clear how many people were in the market complex, Xinhua said.

The fire broke out at about 2020 on Wednesday.

Some 2,000 vendors work in the complex, which contains a mixture of offices and stalls selling clothes and toys, according to Xinhua.

The market had closed at shortly before the fire broke out and not many people were left in the building, the agency quoted a security guard as saying.

Firefighters battled for more than 12 hours to contain the blaze before giving up amid fears the building could collapse.

The fire at the adjacent hotel has been brought under control, Xinhua said. The top floors of the plaza remain on fire.