Twelve killed in residential fire in southern China, Xinhua reports

Twelve people have been killed in a residential fire in the southern Chinese city of Shantou, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

The blaze broke out on Tuesday at 9:20 p.m. (1320 GMT) in a four-storey building and was extinguished about 40 minutes later, Xinhua said.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way.

The incident comes as the death toll from Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades climbed to 160 on Tuesday. The fire prompted calls from China's top leaders to eliminate safety hazards in the housing industry.

China last month also announced a sweeping inspection of fire-safety standards in high-rise buildings nationwide following the deadly Hong Kong blaze, to prevent any comparable disaster on the mainland.

The fire in Shantou is the latest in a string of similar fatal incidents across the country in recent years.

In April, 20 people were killed in a fire that broke out in an apartment for the elderly at a nursing home in the northern province of Hebei.

Weeks later, a restaurant fire in northeastern China killed 22 people.

-Ethan Wang and Liz Lee