A blaze was reported at around 10 AM at the Big Capital Shopping Mall in southwest China's Chongqing, with about 2,000 customers inside.

More than 150 firefighters arrived at the scene within minutes after the call and began evacuating shoppers.

The flames were put out after about 30 minutes and no casualties were reported, said local fire fighter He Xingwei.

The fire started in a food stall kitchen on the mall's seventh floor, an eyewitness said.

Thick grease blocking a kitchen flue was blamed for the outbreak.

Smoke spread through the restaurant and the top floor, where most of the food vendors are, the witness said.

The rest of the eight-story building contains shops.

"The flue was due to be cleaned on Sunday in accordance with the restaurant's regulations, which say it should be done once every three months," said Tang Jun of the Waipoqiao Restaurant.

Billowing smoke filled the upper stores of the mall, the website of the People's Daily newspaper reported, but operations returned to normal at around 11:30 AM.

The restaurant has been ordered to stay closed for inspection.

The shopping mall stands on a busy city street next to clothes shops, department stores, cinemas and hotels.

Three days before the fire, the city's Wanhao Hotel went up in flames and again there were no casualties, just damage to the building.

The central government is undertaking a nationwide crackdown aimed at enforcing safety standards in public buildings, which often lack adequate fire extinguishers and emergency exits.

(China Daily August 9, 2004)