Shanghai overhauls fire prevention after fire

SHANGHAI - The Shanghai municipal government has ordered an overhaul of fire prevention measures across the city after a market fire left five people dead and 14 others injured on Sunday night.

The government demanded a special campaign to eliminate fire hazards and improve fire rescue mechanisms at a meeting on Monday.

The information office of the municipal government announced at press conference Monday evening that five people were killed and 14 others were injured in the fire.

The fire broke out around 8:30 p.m. Sunday at a farm produce wholesale market in Shanghai's Pudong new district. Rescuers retrieved five bodies from the debris of the blaze. All the injured were sent to hospital.

Changhai Hospital received eight injured people. Three, including a 57-year-old woman and a nine-year-old girl, suffered serious burns, said Ma Bing, a doctor at the hospital.

The Shanghai agricultural products central wholesale market is the city's largest wholesale market for farm produce and byproducts. It was built in the 1990s.

The dried food section of the market, where the fire started, has suspended business.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.