12 people died in a fire in an apartment building in southern China

The New China News Agency (Xinhua) reported today that 12 people died in a fire in a residential building in the southern Chinese city of Shantou.

Xinhua said that the fire broke out at (1320 GMT) yesterday, Tuesday, in a four-story building before it could be extinguished after about 40 minutes.

The authorities are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.