Death toll has risen to 10 in a hotel fire Saturday morning in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province, firefighters said.
The fire, which broke out around 08:00 in the HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in Honggutan New District, was put out around 9:40.
Firefighters found seven bodies in the debris, and three of the 16 rushed to local hospitals died later on.
The four-story hotel is next to a 24-story apartment building where over 260 residents had to be evacuated.
The fire broke out on the first floor due to maintenance works and quickly spread to the second floor.
Li Yun, guest evacuated from 24th floor:
"We woke up to a room-ful of smell. We thought of a broken-down air conditioner. But when we opened the door, what we saw was white smoke everywhere. We then knew the hotel was on fire."
guest evacuated from 24th floor (no name given):
"The corridor was filled with smoke, and we could see nothing through it. There was also much smoke inside the room. It was very perilous. We couldn't know the situation on the outside. About an hour and a half later, we heard a firefighter in the corridor. We used a cup to knock on the door. The firefighter got to know that we were inside. He opened the door and led us to the rooftop."
