At least 10 dead, 9 injured after Urumqi fire

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 accident in the country this week, which has left a total of 48 dead. The Thursday night fire struck the building in the regional capital of Urumqi, where temperatures are below freezing at night. The blaze took around three hours to extinguish.

The local government said the injured were all expected to survive and the cause of the fire is under investigation. State media reports said the dead and injured inhaled toxic smoke and that residents had not been under strict COVID-19 lockdown and were able to leave their apartments.