Christmas blaze kills 26 in China
A fire at an unlicensed bar killed at least 26 people and injured eight in a Chinese city near Hong Kong, the government said yesterday.
The fire broke out at 11 p.m. on Sunday in Zhongshan, which abuts the former Portuguese colony of Macau west of Hong Kong, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
It said the cause of the blaze was under investigation.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "This small bar is an illegal business inside a restaurant," said an official in the propaganda office of Zhongshan's Communist Party branch.
"The bar owner has been detained for investigation," said the official, who would not give his name.
Police and fire officials in Zhongshan refused to release any information.
Zhongshan is part of the booming Pearl River Delta region around Hong Kong whose factories form the heart of China's export-driven manufacturing industries.
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