8 dead, 15 injured in north China market fire

A fire at a vegetable market in north China killed eight people and injured 15 on Saturday, local authorities reported.

"The injured have been sent to hospital for treatment and are currently not in life-threatening danger," the Qiaoxi District People´s Government said after the blaze in Zhangjiakou city, northwest of Beijing.

The fire at the Liguang market broke out at around 8:40am (0040 GMT) and was extinguished after 10am, the district government said. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Huge dark billows of smoke hung over the market in the city's Qiaoxi district, videos posted by other media on China's Weibo microblogging site showed, along with large flames.

Identified as the Liguang vegetable market in some media, it opened in 2011 and sells items ranging from fruit and seafood to electronics, company data provider Qichacha said.

Deadly fires are relatively common in China due to lax building codes and an often slipshod approach to workplace safety.

A blaze in the major city of Chengdu in October left 24 people hospitalised with breathing difficulties, state media reported.

In July, a fire at a shopping centre in the southwestern city of Zigong killed 16 people.