People are seen outside a residential building where a fire that broke out in the early morning killed and injured many residents, in Changshu, Jiangsu province, China July 16, 2017. CNS/Zhong Sheng via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed when a two-storey residential building in China's eastern Jiangsu province caught fire on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency cited local authorities as saying.

The fire broke out before dawn at the building in the town of Yushan in Changshu city, Xinhua said.

The blaze has since been put out, and local police said they had arrested a suspect for alleged arson.

An investigation into the cause was under way and disaster-relief teams have been set up to offer legal and mental support for the families and relatives of the victims, Xinhua said. </s> world

Updated: Jul 16, 2017 12:24 IST

A pre-dawn fire in a two-storey house in eastern China killed 22 people and injured three on Sunday.

The city of Changshu in Jiangsu province, about 80 km northwest of Shanghai, said on Sunday in a brief social media post that the fire broke out around 4.30 am. The post said authorities have put out the fire and finished cleaning the scene.

Twenty two people died in a house #fire in East China's Jiangsu province early Sunday morning. https://t.co/ZICgzoM1NW pic.twitter.com/26gjkdiR2X — China Daily (@ChinaDailyUSA) 16 July 2017

The cause remains under investigation. It is not clear how many residents survived.

Citing unnamed sources, an earlier report by the official Xinhua news agency said more than 20 people lived in the house.

First Published: Jul 16, 2017 12:21 IST </s> At least 22 people were killed on Sunday in a house fire in China's Jiangsu province, police said.

 

 The fire broke out at 4.32 a.m. in a two-storey house in Changshu city, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

 Three others were also injured in the incident, the police said.

 

 The fire has been put out and a probe into the cause of the blaze is underway. </s> Fire at apartment building in China’s east province claimed lives of 22 people

At least 22 people have died in a fire, which broke out at an apartment building in the settlement near the Changshu county-level city of Chinese eastern province of Jiangsu, Sputnik reported citing local media.

The fire erupted at around 4:30 a.m. local time on Sunday [20:30 GMT on Saturday], three people were injured, the CCTV broadcaster reported.

The firemen managed to extinguish the blaze, the cause of the incident is being investigated, according to the broadcaster. </s> At least 22 people have died after a fire broke out in a two-storey house in eastern China, state media report.

Another three people were injured in the city of Changshu, north-west of Shanghai, Xinhua news agency says.

It says the fire - that started at about 04:30 local time (20:30 GMT Saturday) - has been put out.

It was not immediately known how many people lived in the building in Jiangsu province. An investigation into what caused the blaze is now under way. </s> JIANGSU: At least 22 people were killed and three others wounded after a house caught fire in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on Sunday (Jul 16), according to reports.

The incident occurred at 4.32am local time at a two-storey house in Yushan Town in Changshu city, reported Xinhua.

A report by CGTN, citing sources, said the house was rented to more than 20 people.

The fire has been put out and investigations are underway. </s> BEIJING (Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed when a two-storey residential building in China's eastern Jiangsu province caught fire on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency cited local authorities as saying.

The fire broke out before dawn at the building in the town of Yushan in Changshu city, Xinhua said.

The blaze has since been put out, and local police said they had arrested a suspect for alleged arson.

An investigation into the cause was under way and disaster-relief teams have been set up to offer legal and mental support for the families and relatives of the victims, Xinhua said. </s> At least 22 people were killed when a house in China’s eastern Jiangsu province caught fire on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency cited local authorities as saying.

The fire broke out before dawn at a two-storey residential house in Yushan town in Changshu city, Xinhua said.

Three were injured. The blaze has been put out, and investigation into the cause is under way, it said. </s> People are seen outside a residential building where a fire that broke out in the early morning killed and injured many residents, in Changshu, Jiangsu province July 16, 2017. — Picture by CNS/Zhong Sheng via ReutersBEIJING, July 16 — A man was arrested for allegedly setting ablaze a two-storey house in eastern China today, killing 22 people and injuring three, state media said.

The suspect, named Jiang, is in police custody, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The fire broke out at around 4.30am (2030 GMT/4.30am Malaysian time) in Yushan Town north-west of Shanghai in Jiangsu province, before it was extinguished an hour later.

Local police gave no further information on the suspect, Xinhua said.

The three injured do not face life-threatening injuries, the agency added. — AFP </s> Police have caught a man suspected of setting a fire at a three-storey building that killed 18 people and injured five others in China.

The public security bureau of Qingyuan City in Guangdong province said authorities arrested a 32-year-old man named Liu Chunlu in the county-level city of Yingde, which Qingyuan oversees.

Police had offered a 200,000 yuan reward for the man they accuse of starting the fire early on Tuesday morning.

The site of the fire at a karaoke bar in Yingde City, south China's Guangdong Province. Photo: Deng Hua/Xinhua News Agency via AP

The bureau said the man had burns on his hips. It did not provide a motive for the arson, but state broadcaster China Central Television reported the suspect had set fire to a karaoke parlour after an argument with others.

The suspect blocked the entrance of the venue with his motorcycle and then ignited it, setting it ablaze, CCTV said. The parlour had only one passage for entering and exiting, the report said.

Police, fire, health and other departments sent rescuers to the site after receiving a call after midnight about the fire, the Qingyuan police said.

The fire was put out at 12.55am local time and the injured had been sent to the hospital, the bureau said on its official account on the microblog site, Sina Weibo.

China suffers frequent deadly fires and industrial accidents, often blamed on negligence.

Last year, police arrested a man suspected of setting fire to a two-storey house in eastern China, killing 22 people. At that time, investigators discovered traces of gasoline at the scene of the pre-dawn fire in Jiangsu province and found all the doors of the house locked.
An early morning fire in the Chinese city of Changshu in Jiangsu province kills 22 people and injures three.