Ten people lost their lives in an apartment fire in Xinjiang, northwest China

Ten people have died and nine more have been injured in a fire that broke out in an apartment building in the Xinjiang province of northwest China, according to authorities.

In Urumqi, the regional capital, where nighttime temperatures have fallen below freezing, a fire broke out on Thursday night. It took around three hours to put out the fire.

According to the local authorities, all of the injured people should be able to make a full recovery, and the source of the incident is being looked into.

The tragedy comes just days after 38 people were killed in a fire at a central Chinese industrial trading company caused by welding sparks that burned cotton textiles.

Authorities in Anyang ordered extensive safety inspections and detained four people in connection with the fire.

A string of recent fires, explosions, and building collapses around China have been caused by ageing infrastructure, poor safety awareness, and, in some cases, government corruption. The country is also still dealing with new Covid-19 outbreaks, which have resulted in lockdowns and strict travel restrictions that have affected millions of people.

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