High-rise in NE China catches fire, 21 rescued

Firemen rescued 21 people from a high-rise building fire on Thursday afternoon in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. No casualties were reported so far.

The blaze was initially believed to have broken out at around 4p.m. on the third floor of the "Jingwei360" building in the provincial capital Harbin. The structure had nearly 30 floors still under construction.

All of those rescued were construction workers in the building. They were sent to hospitals for a check-up.

The fire spread to many other floors but almost all of it was put out as of Thursday evening. The number of people in the building when the fire occurred was not clear.

"The construction has almost been completed," said a worker at the building. He said he was dumping garbage in the first floor when he saw smoke.

Source: Xinhua