China News: 22 dead, 3 injured after restaurant fire in Liaoning province

At least 22 people have been killed and 3 injured on Tuesday in a fire at restaurant in the northern city of Liaoyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

The cause of the fire, which broke out shortly after noon, is not known yet.

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Videos and images from the scene showed huge flames spurting from the windows and doors of the two- or three-story building.

A report released hours later through the provincial radio and television bureau said the fire had been extinguished and the search for survivors ended.

However, a long list of responding regional politicians — from the governor down — was provided, along with a pledge to get to the bottom of the disaster and severely punish those responsible.

Chinese news agency Xinhua said President Xi Jinping called it "a deeply sobering lesson" and urged local officials to quickly treat the injured, determine what triggered the blaze and hold those responsible to account.

Hao Peng, secretary of Liaoning's provincial ruling party committee, said 22 fire trucks and 85 firefighters were deployed to the scene.

The on-site rescue work had been completed and people had been evacuated, Hao said.

Frequent Industrial Accidents in China

Industrial accidents occur frequently in China, usually due to staff ignoring safety measures.

Poorly maintained infrastructure, illegally stored chemicals and a lack of fire exits and fire retardant, often abetted by corruption, are often factors in such disasters.

Liaoyang city is part of China's rust belt, a former industrial powerhouse that has fallen on hard times with considerable population outflow.

Earlier this month, 20 people were killed in a fire that broke out in an apartment for the elderly at a nursing home in the northern province of Hebei.

Last year, gas leaks caused at least two high-profile explosions in residential areas, with a blast at a restaurant in Hebei province killing two people and injuring 26 in March, and an explosion in a high-rise building in southern Shenzhen province in September killing one person.