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Four dead, two injured in China furniture plant fire

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-04 15:06

URUMQI - Four people are confirmed dead and two others injured after a furniture plant in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region caught fire early Tuesday, the local government said.

Fire engulfed Yingjia Furniture Plant in Shuimogou District of downtown Urumqi at around 2:15 am. Three workers and a four-year-old boy, who was staying with his mother in the plant's dormitory, were killed, said a spokesman of the city's public security bureau.

The boy's mother was Du Quanying, 37. Also killed were Jin Xia, a 30-year-old woman from Shaanxi Province and Tong Yuanxin, 18, from central Hunan Province.

The two injured included the plant's manager, a 31-year-old man from Shaanxi Province and a 51-year-old worker from southwestern Sichuan.

The furniture plant was small and privately-owned, employing about 20 people, mostly migrants, the spokesman said.

A total of 12 fire engines with 65 men had the fire out by 2:50 am.

The cause is under investigation. Police said there was no apparent sign of arson as yet.

This is the second deadly fire in Urumqi this year. On January 2, a 12-story market in the city center was engulfed in flames. The fire lasted 68 hours and killed five people, including three firemen.