A fire on Friday in a residential building left at least 15 dead and 44 injured in eastern China, according to a provisional report announced on Saturday February 24 by the authorities of the city of Nanjing.
The causes of the incident are under investigation but initial indications indicate that the fire started where electric two-wheelers were located, the authorities said.
Nanking, which was the imperial capital, is located approximately 260 kilometers northwest of Shanghai.
At a press conference, the city's mayor, Chen Zhichang, offered his condolences and apologies to the victims' families.
The fire, which broke out at 4:39 a.m. (8:39 p.m. GMT) on Friday, required 25 fire trucks to put out, emergency services said.
Images posted on Chinese social networks show the top of a skyscraper on fire in the middle of the night and immense smoke emanating from it.
Fires or other accidents occur regularly in China, often due to insufficient safety standards.
In January, at least 39 people died in a store fire in central China.
The same month, 13 schoolchildren lost their lives in a fire in a boarding school dormitory, still in the center of the country.