NANJING - Five people died after flames engulfed a tire store in East China's Jiangsu province early Monday, local police said.

The fire broke out at 4:30 am at a store selling tires and rubber products in an economic development zone in the city of Xuzhou, killing the store's owner and four family members, the Jiangsu provincial public security bureau said in a press release.

Police are still investigating how the fire started, it said.

The flames were extinguished in an hour and did not spread to neighboring stores, the document said without elaborating.