China market blaze kills eight, injures 15

A fire at a vegetable market in China's northern province of Hebei killed eight people and wounded 15, state television CCTV said on Saturday.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire in the city of Zhangjiakou, which was doused just over an hour after it broke out at about 8:40am, the broadcaster added.

Huge dark billows of smoke hung over the market in the city's Qiaoxi district, videos posted by other media on China's Weibo microblogging site showed, along with large flames.

"The injured have been sent to hospital for treatment and are currently not in life-threatening danger," the Qiaoxi District People's Government said after the blaze in Zhangjiakou city, northwest of Beijing.

Identified as the Liguang vegetable market in some media, it opened in 2011 and sells items ranging from fruit and seafood to electronics, company data provider Qichacha said.

Deadly fires are relatively common in China due to lax building codes and an often slipshod approach to workplace safety.

A blaze in the major city of Chengdu in October left 24 people hospitalised with breathing difficulties, state media reported.

In July, a fire at a shopping centre in the southwestern city of Zigong killed 16 people.