Firefighters battle deadly blaze in China shoe factory

Nearly 200 fire and rescue personnel raced to put out a deadly fire at a shoe factory in eastern China on Thursday, with people still trapped inside hours after the blaze broke out, authorities said.

A fire broke out at the Huiteng Shoes factory in Jinjiang city, Fujian province, around noon (0400 GMT) on Thursday, with fire and rescue teams dispatching 183 personnel and 35 vehicles to the scene, the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement.

The fire had caused casualties, it added, without giving details of how many people had been injured or killed.

Live footage aired by state broadcaster CCTV showed fire engines dousing a charred multi-story building with water, as thick gray smoke billowed from broken windows.

The blaze was currently being extinguished, the ministry added, demanding "all-out" efforts to put it out, search for trapped personnel and treat the injured.

"Simultaneously, the cause of the fire must be investigated, lessons learned, and effective measures taken to prevent similar accidents from recurring," the ministry said.

Some people were trapped and "out of contact", said state news agency Xinhua.

China launched a campaign against fire hazards in high-rise buildings in November, after a huge blaze engulfed several tower blocks in Hong Kong, killing 168 people.

A month later, a fire at a residential building in southern China's Guangdong province killed 12 people.