A fire in a high-rise apartment building in Taiyuan, the capital of China's northern Shanxi province, killed 14 people and sent 38 to hospital after breaking out on Sunday evening, state media reported on Monday. The blaze is the latest deadly fire in a residential tower in China, and its cause is still under investigation.

The fire started at about 4:59 p.m. local time on Sunday 8 November in a building in the Liuxiang subdistrict of Yingze district, in downtown Taiyuan, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Firefighters brought the flames under control in roughly two hours, and rescue operations ended at 8:30 p.m. Five people had been confirmed dead by late Sunday night; the toll rose to 14 by Monday morning as more victims were found.

Twenty-five people were still in hospital on Monday afternoon, nine of them with serious injuries, state media said, citing the authorities. The building, a 40-storey residential tower on a busy downtown main road, also contained a hotel and children's education centres, according to the South China Morning Post. Video images circulated online and verified by Reuters showed smoke billowing over the tower as firefighters on cranes battled flames spreading from its centre.

Cause still unknown

The authorities have not said what started the fire or how it spread through the building. Xinhua and other state outlets said only that the cause remained under investigation and that arrangements for the victims and their families had been put in place.

Deadly fires in high-rise housing have recurred in China in recent years, and the Taiyuan blaze will renew scrutiny of fire safety in the country's dense residential towers. For now, the confirmed toll stands at 14 dead and 38 taken to hospital, with the investigation into the cause still to report.