Five people were killed and almost 20 others injured in a fire in a residential building in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, early on Tuesday, rescuers said.

The fire broke out at 1:30 AM in a three-story building where 211 people lived. One of those who died did so after jumping off the building. 

Doctors at Harbin's No.4 Hospital estimated the number of hospitalized patients to be 18 or 19. Most of the building's residents escaped the fire by themselves.

It took three hours for firefighters to put out the fire.

An investigation into its cause is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2005)