The cause of a fire that killed five people and injured two last Saturday evening, in a hotel in Yanji of northeast China's Jilin Province, has been identified, local government sources said yesterday.

A neon light billboard and a car at the entrance to the hotel were damaged by high winds on Saturday night before kindling from them was blown into the open windows of the seven-storey Xinqiao Hotel and ignited decorative materials inside, said Sui Qingjiang, a government official from the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian, in which the city is located.

He is also a member of the investigation team of the accident, which is organized by officials from relative departments such as the local public security and civilian affairs bureaux.

Local authorities have identified the five victims, who are all men, and include a 47-year-old foreigner from Russia. The Russian was in Yanji to see a doctor.

Two of the Russian victim's friends in China contacted the local civil affairs authorities on Monday, and the victim's wife is on the way to China from Russia. Relatives of the four Chinese victims have arrived at Yanji and are negotiating with the accident investigation group for compensation, Sui said.

"Details of compensation will be announced in the next few days," he added.

The deadly blaze started at about 7:40 PM on Saturday when about 60 people were in the hotel including guests and hotel staff.

It took more than 130 firefighters 2 hours to extinguish the blaze with the help of 26 fire engines. All of the victims perished on site.

Immediately after the fire broke out, government officials rushed to the site to organize the rescue operation.

"We noticed that the rooms of the hotel were all fixed with automatic fireproof installations and fire alarm buttons when we booked the room. However, all these fireproof installations seemed to be out of use when the disaster happened," one survivor said, who declined to be named.

In addition, the owner of the hotel and the hotel's electricians have been detained for further investigation by the local public security bureau, according to Cui Wende, another member of the investigation team.

The prefecture government urged an overall check of all public places to find and avoid any potential threats that may cause fires.

A number of accidents have occurred within four months throughout the Jilin Province, including a fire that ripped through Liaoyuan Central Hospital last November, which killed 39 people and injured 182.

Jilin Province has carried out large-scale safety checks on hospitals, schools and enterprises in order to avert fires.

(China Daily March 22, 2006)