Police have started DNA tests to identify two bodies recovered Saturday from the debris of a shopping and office complex blaze in Xinjiang in China's remote northwest, government sources said Sunday.
The two scorched bodies were found by fire-fighters in an office on the fourth floor of the 12-story building in the Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi, according to the sources from the Urumqi city government.
But it was still unknown whether they were the two previously reported missing workers, a man and a woman, of the Doowin Group, which ran the destroyed Doowin International Plaza.
The blaze began in a mop vendor's stall of the plaza and quickly engulfed the whole building housing more than 1,000 stalls of clothing, cosmetics, toys and many offices.
The fire was completely put out Saturday afternoon. Three firemen were killed in their rescue operation.
Five fire engines and 20 fire-fighters were at the site in case of a re-ignition.
Top managers with the Doowin Group, the parent company of the plaza, have been requested to stay in the city for investigation. The property and bank accounts of the owner were also frozen.
The fire was estimated to cause a loss of 500 million yuan (68.4 million U.S. dollars).
Urumqi vice mayor Zhang Hong said the city had launched a massive inspection move Friday to identify fire hazards, particularly of open markets, shopping malls, supermarkets, gas stations, entertainment venues and schools.
Five owners or operators of two restaurants in the city's Tianshan district were detained for seven or ten days Friday after small fires broke out in the facilities.
A karaoke bar was ordered to suspend business for illegally removing the monitoring devices.
(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2008)
