Beijing:

A fire that broke out Wednesday in a shopping centre in southwestern China was extinguished but some people were still trapped inside, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Footage broadcast by the channel and shared on social media showed thick black smoke rising from a building in the city.

About 17 people were rescued from the building in the city of Zigong in Sichuan province, the channel said.

“By 8:20 pm (1220 GMT), the fire had been extinguished,” CCTV said, adding “some people are still trapped and rescue operations are continuing”.

The fire started in the early evening in a shopping centre at the foot of a 14-storey building, the channel said.

Fires and other deadly accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.

In January, dozens died after a fire broke out at a store in the central city of Xinyu, with state news agency Xinhua reporting the blaze had been caused by the “illegal” use of fire by workers in the store’s basement.

That fire came just days after a late-evening blaze at a school in central China’s Henan province killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A heartwarming story has emerged from China where four women shaved their heads and donated skin to save two children who were injured in a fire incident. The children –  a boy and a girl – are the nephew and niece of the four women, according to South China Morning Post (SCMP). The fire incident took place on February 20 in a house in Shandong province in eastern China, the outlet further said. Six-year-old girl (nicknamed Keke) and four-year-old Dandan were badly injured in the incident.

Their mother, identified as Min by SCMP, was devastated but her four sisters insisted on donating their skin to save the children.

The cause of the fire is not known but Min told SCMP that it may have broken out after she switched on the air conditioner in the children’s room.

The boy and the girl remained in coma for five days and suffered severe injuries, including respiratory burn, carbon monoxide poisoning and organ failure.

The couple rushed the children to capital Beijing where the doctor told them that skin grafting would be needed due to their extensive burns.

When Min told her family members, they immediately offered to help and after tests, it was found that she and her four sisters were compatible skin donors.

“All five of us shaved our heads. I’d never imagined that one day I would be shaving my head, but I would do anything to save the children,” one of Min’s sisters was quoted as saying by SCMP.

The surgery was immediately performed and lives of children saved.

Photos of the five women sitting together on bed with babies in their laps have gone viral on Chinese social media platforms.

“Wonder women,” one social media user commented, as per SCMP report. Another said, “The most lovely aunts in China in 2024.”