Sixty-nine people were injured yesterday in a fire that swept through a large market area and damaged a hotel in Changde, in central China's Hunan Province.

"There are no reports of death so far," said Zhang Zhiping, a senior official with the local government.

Witnesses said the fire broke out in a small shop in Qiaonan Market at about 7 AM and soon spread northwest to a nearby hotel. Flames continued to blaze through the evening over an area of 20,000 square meters, said Zhang.

The cause of the fire remains unclear.

The 69 injured were mostly shop owners but also included 16 firefighters, according to local authorities.

Many were hospitalized, and those with lesser injuries have returned home.

Some guests in the neighboring hotel were also injured, said Zhang.

Built in the 1990s, the multistoried Qiaonan Market contains over 100 small wholesale and retail businesses, with an annual sales volume valued at tens of millions of yuan.

The flammable goods it sells, such as textiles, electronic products and headgear, have increased the difficulty of dealing with the fire, as have strong winds.

(China Daily December 22, 2004)