10 killed in apartment fire in northwest China’s Xinjiang

By DAKE KANG
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities say a fire in an apartment building in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region has left 10 people dead and nine injured. It was the second major fire in the country this week, leaving a total of 48 dead. The Thursday night fire struck the building in the regional capital of Urumqi, where temperatures fall below freezing at night. The blaze took around three hours to extinguish. The local government says the injured were all expected to survive and the cause of the fire is under investigation. State media reports say the dead and injured inhaled toxic smoke but had not been under a strict COVID-19 lockdown and were able to leave their apartments.