Beijing officials probed after deadly fire

Several officials have been placed under investigation after a fatal blaze in Beijing's Chaoyang district, news website Qianlong has reported.

Five people were killed and nine others injured in Shibalidian township when a flames tore through an apartment building on Wednesday morning.

The fire started at 1:18 am and was started by electric bicycles being charged, according to the city fire department. Police detained the owner of the building on Wednesday.

The local Party discipline watchdog has also placed several officials under investigation, including Huang Haidong, the township's deputy leader; Yan Ziyi, its section head for safety supervision; and Yun Fei, its deputy police chief

According to the fire department, the structure was built by a resident and had four floors with more than 30 small rented rooms of less than 10 square meters each. There was only one exit on each floor.