Three others were injured in blaze that engulfed a multi-storey building in Liaoyang, authorities say.
At least 22 people have been killed and three others injured in a fire at a restaurant in China’s northern city of Liaoyang, Chinese authorities said.
Authorities did not provide details on what caused the blaze, which broke out shortly after noon local time (04:25 GMT) on Tuesday.
But images from the scene showed huge flames spurting from the windows and doors of the multi-storey building in Liaoyang, about 580km (360 miles) northeast of the capital Beijing.
“The incident has resulted in 22 deaths and three injuries,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
Videos published on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, showed paramedics wheeling one victim on a stretcher into an ambulance and several firefighters battling the flames with hoses.
Another video from the social media platform shot from above the scene showed more than a dozen fire engines parked outside the restaurant.
Hao Peng, secretary of Liaoning’s provincial ruling party committee, said 22 fire trucks and 85 firefighters were deployed to the scene.
Hao said the on-site rescue work had been completed and people had been evacuated.
A long list of responding regional politicians – from the governor down – was provided, along with a pledge to get to the bottom of the disaster and severely punish those responsible.
China’s President Xi Jinping called for “every effort to treat the injured, properly handle the aftermath for the deceased and provide support to their families, swiftly determine the cause of the fire, and pursue accountability in accordance with the law”, according to CCTV.
Industrial accidents occur frequently in China, usually due to staff ignoring safety features due to a lack of training or pressure from their superiors.
Poorly maintained infrastructure, illegally stored chemicals and a lack of fire exits and fire retardant, often abetted by corruption, are often factors in such disasters.
The country has seen a spate of such deadly incidents in recent months. On April 9, at least 20 people died in a fire at a nursing home in northern China’s Hebei province.
In January, a blaze at a vegetable market in Zhangjiakou city, northwest of Beijing, killed eight people and injured 15.
And a month before that, nine people died in a fire at a construction site in China’s eastern city of Rongcheng.