Investigation team formed over deadly fire in north China

An investigation team has been set up by the government of north China's Shanxi Province to look into the cause of a fire at a coal mine office building Thursday that left 26 dead and 38 injured.

The team is headed by Wu Wei, executive vice governor of Shanxi, and the provincial disciplinary inspection and supervision agency will join the investigation, according to a press conference held by the provincial government on Friday.

According to previous reports, the fire ripped through the second floor of the four-story building in Lishi District of Lyuliang City.

"The building has a reinforced concrete frame structure, with a construction area of 6,920 square meters. The second floor is the bathhouse for the workers, and the fire occurred when workers were taking over shifts in and out of the shaft," said Liu Shihua, deputy director of the provincial emergency management department.

A total of 18 fire engines, 30 ambulances, more than 90 medical staff, and over 150 rescuers were mobilized for the emergency rescue. The blaze was extinguished at 8:35 am Thursday, and the search and rescue was completed at 1:45pm

A total of 75 people were evacuated from the scene, of whom 64 were taken to hospital. The fire damaged an area of about 900 square meters according to preliminary calculation.

"The investigation team will find out the cause of the incident as soon as possible," Liu said, adding that the team has invited more than 10 technical experts at the national and provincial levels to conduct investigations.

Shanxi has launched a fire prevention campaign following the incident.