The body of the missing fire fighter trapped in the Urumqi blaze on Wednesday was recovered on Friday, the rescue headquarters said on Saturday.

Rescuers found the body of Gao Feng on the sixth floor of the 12-story building at about 2:00 p.m. after the fire had been extinguished the previous night, said an official with the Xinjiang regional brigade of fire control.

The fire began in a 12-story market and office building - the Doowin International Plaza - on Wednesday and then spread to an adjacent 20-story hotel, which left three fire fighters dead, one injured and two other employees of the plaza missing.

The official said the three firemen - Zhu Xiaolei, Zhang Yu and Gao Feng - had rescued three people from the fire but returned to the building around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, searching for anyone who might have been trapped in the fire.

At just past midnight the same night, the headquarters received a message from Zhu. Zhu and Zhang were found on the corridor of the sixth floor. Thick smoke and extreme heat had reduced the two firemen to exhaustion and both had a feeble heartbeat.

They died from smoke inhalation at 0:25 a.m. on Thursday in hospital.

Another fireman was injured but is in a stable condition, said the official.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2008)