Cause of fatal Harbin fire determined, investigation continues

Decorative materials that caught fire after an electrical short circuit caused the deadly blaze that killed 20 people in a hotel Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province on Aug 25, Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday.

The fire is ascertained to have broken out at 4:12 am on Aug 25 on the  Beilong Hot Spring Hotel's second floor close by the fan-coil system, according to the provincial investigation team.

It's reported that the newly-built accountability and investigation team by the Harbin Commission for Discipline Inspection will hold administrators and hotel staff members liable if negligence was involved in the fire.

Twenty people were killed and 23 injured in the blaze. The victims were mostly senior citizens in a tour group from Beijing, whose ages spanned from 50 to over 80.

Li Yanbin, the 52-year-old female suspect, was seized by Harbin's public security bureau on Thursday after the police issued a wanted notice for her on Wednesday, offering a reward of 300,000 yuan ($44,000).

According to a report on China Central Television, Li is the chairwoman of the company that owned the hotel.