20 in custody over deadly fire in East China

Emergency service crews at the HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in Honggutan New District in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, on Feb 26, 2017.[Photo by Wang Jian/China Daily]

Police have taken at least 24 people into custody after a hotel fire killed 10 people in Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi Province, officials said.

Initial investigations found the fire was caused by cutting of decoration materials, and further investigation is under way.

More than 10 construction workers were on the second floor of the HNA Platinum Mix Hotel on Saturday morning when the fire broke out.

About 260 people were evacuated, but firefighters found seven bodies in the debris, and three people died in hospital.