Team established to investigate deadly Xinyu fire

The State Council, China's cabinet, has established a team to investigate a deadly fire that killed 39 and injured nine others in Xinyu, Jiangxi province, the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a media release on Friday.

The fire broke out at around 3 pm on Wednesday after workers improperly used fire as they refurbished a cold storage in the basement of a street shop on Tiangongnan Road in Yushui district.

Heavy smoke soon engulfed the first and second floor, trapping students attending educational training classes and people in a hotel.

Led by the Ministry of Emergency Management, the investigation team also consists of members from the Ministry of Public Security, All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the National Fire and Rescue Administration, and Jiangxi provincial government, the release said.

The team is headed by Song Yuanming, vice-minister of emergency management, it said.

In the team's first meeting on Friday afternoon, Song asked the team to figure out the causes for the accident as soon as possible and then strictly hold those responsible to account, according to the release.

He also asked local authorities across the country to draw a lesson from the deadly accident and roll out measures to resolutely curb frequent occurrences of different types of accidents.