Cause of the hotel fire that claimed five lives last Saturday evening in Yanji City, northeast China's Jilin Province, has been basically ascertained, local government said on Tuesday.

The blaze, which broke out at around 7:40 p.m. on March 18 at the Xinqiao Hotel in Yanji City of the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian, killed five people, including a Russian guest, three employees of a Chinese power company and a man who worked in Beijing, said Sui Qingjiang, an official of the prefecture. Another two men were injured, Sui added.

A neon light billboard and a car at the entrance of the hotel had been damaged by high winds on last Saturday night before kindlings from either of them was blown into the open windows of the hotel and ignited inflammable decorative materials inside, the official said.

All five victims were men. Their bodies were found after the fire was extinguished at midnight.

Two of the Russian victim's friends in China contacted the local civil affairs authorities on Monday, and some of his relatives are hurrying to China from Russia.

The prefecture government is organizing an overall safety check-up to remove any hidden dangers that may cause fire.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2006)