A fire in a massage parlor killed seven people on Friday in Yuncheng City in north China's Shanxi Province, police said.

The fire broke out at 4:00 p.m. in Mingren Massage Parlor in Yanhu District of Yuncheng, police said.

The fire had been put out at 5:40 p.m. and seven bodies were found, including four males and three females, police said.

They were all smothered to death by smoke from the fire, police said.

No other information had been revealed by the police.

A meeting was held by the local authorities at 7:30 p.m., which decided to close all the entertainment places from Friday for self-examinations, said Wang Anpang, mayor of Yuncheng City.

A 20-day security examination for the whole city will be launched at the same time, Wang said.

Further investigation is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2008)