25 Dead In China Bar Fire

A bar fire killed 25 people and injured 11 in the southern Chinese city of Zhongshan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

The local government was investigating the cause of the fire, which broke out late Sunday night in a bar in Zhongshan city in the southern Guangdong province, Xinhua said in a brief report.

Hong Kong's Cable TV quoted witnesses as saying that there was a blast before the fire erupted in the bar in Zhongshan's Tanzhou town.

Police officers cordoned off the building and nearby roads, while cleaners cleared up the debris, TV footage showed.

Many of the injured suffered severe burns and were sent to a local hospital, Cable TV reported.