SHENYANG - Four people have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from two to five years after being found guilty of causing a major fire that left 12 dead and 23 injured in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, the local court said on Friday.

The blaze ripped through the sales office of Wanda Plaza, a real estate project in the city's Tiexi district, on Aug 28 last year, causing casualties among home buyers and sales assistants.

An investigation showed the fire was triggered by a short-circuit.

Four staff members of a local architectural design company that had designed and constructed the sales office were accused of changing the original layout of fire-control facilities without authorization, which led to the short-circuit and the suffocation of the victims, a spokesman with the Tiexi District People's Court said.

They have also been handed fines of up to 50,000 yuan ($7,936.5) each, the spokesman said.