The Sunday night fire tore through the Tiantan Hotel in the provincial capital Harbin. The fire forced guests to flee through smoke-choked hallways while others smashed windows in a frantic search for air, according to Xinhua news agency.

Most of the victims died from smoke inhalation, one local doctor said.

Sixteen people were hospitalized but were "out of danger" by yesterday morning, Xinhua said, adding that more than 100 were evacuated after the blaze. Firefighters spent 22 minutes putting out the fire.

The local government has ordered a thorough safety inspection throughout the city, which has received more than 200,000 tourists since Chinese New Year's Eve.

Witnesses quoted by Xinhua spoke of chaotic scenes in which some hotel guests ran toward the smoke in desperate search for an exit, while others broke windows and kicked through security bars in window wells to escape. Other guests used mobile phones to call authorities.

"I heard a big noise and saw smoke," said a hotel guest, Wang Lin. "People were shouting, 'Fire! Fire!' I ran."

The cause of the fire was being investigated.

(eastday.com February 4, 2003)