Five people died on Monday while trying to extinguish a forest fire in the southern province of Fujian, local authorities confirmed.

The fire broke out at 2:30 p.m. in Xiamao Town in Shaxian County. The dead included four villagers and one worker from a local forestry depot, said Lin Zhao, an official of the county government.

Aside from the fatalities, there were no injuries, and the cause of the fire was under investigation, he said.

The fire was extinguished two hours later.

Elsewhere, six villagers died fighting a forest fire in central Hunan Province on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 4, 2008)