The fire engulfed the five-story mall in Jixian County in Tianjin in June 30 afternoon, killing eight mall workers, a home textiles saleswoman and a customer.

Several people who spread online rumors about the death toll of a shopping mall fire a week ago in Jixian County in north China's port city of Tianjin have been punished.

The offenders, their number unspecified by the local media, admitted to making up exaggerated number of casualties and pretending to be armed police officers and witnesses when they posted the false information online.

Tianjin police said they have expressed regrets for their misconduct, local news website enorth.com.cn reported.

The fire engulfed a five-story shopping mall in Jixian on June 30, killing eight people and injuring 16 others. Nine of the 16 injured have been discharged from hospitals.

The fire was caused by a short circuit of an air conditioner on the first floor, police investigation showed.

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