Eight people were confirmed dead and another 16 were injured when a hotel in Luliang City of north China's Shanxi Province caught fire early Saturday, the local government said.

Rescuers found seven dead bodies at the site after the fire was put out. Altogether 17 people were hospitalized with injuries, one of whom failed to respond to emergency treatment and died in hospital, a spokesman with Luliang city government told Xinhua.

He said the other 16 people were out of danger.

Fire broke out at Jintian Hotel in Lishi District, the only urban district of Luliang, at 6 a.m. and "all its seven floors were ablaze", the spokesman said without elaborating.

The blaze was put out at around 9:30 a.m. and the cause of the accident is still under investigation.

The identities of the dead are not immediately known.

Some of the hotel rooms were leased to businesses, including a local television and some advertisement companies and travel services, the spokesman said, quoting one of the rescuers at the fire site.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2008)