Thirty-one people were confirmed dead in a hotel fire in south China's Guangdong Province by midnight Friday, said local government in an overnight announcement.

 

Fifteen others were injured in the fire, four of them seriously, said the announcement.

 

An earlier report put the death toll at five, but rescuers found more bodies at the site later on Friday. The exact number of people in the hotel is unavailable, said the local government.

 

The fire broke out around 12:20 at Friday noon and engulfed the top three floors of the four-story Huanan Hotel, which is located in a downtown district of Shantou City, local police said earlier.

 

Firefighters put out the fire in about three hours, and all the injured were sent to the Shantou Central Hospital.

 

Huang Huahua, the provincial governor, arrived at the site to direct rescue operation at 11:30 PM Friday and also visited the injured in the hospital.

 

Investigation into the cause of the fire is underway, said the police.

 

The Huanan Hotel is managed by a Hong Kong company, with a floor space of about 8,000 square meters.

 

 

 

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2005)