53 dead as 4 held over Shanghai fire

Beijing - Police in Shanghai detained four people on Tuesday as the death toll rose to 53 following a fire at a 28-storey apartment building in China's largest commercial city, state media said.

Reports did not identify the four suspects but the state-run Xinmin Net website said an initial safety investigation had blamed the fire on negligence by "unlicensed electric welding workers".

The fire broke out mid-afternoon on Monday on scaffolding outside the building in Shanghai's Jing'an district and spread quickly to most of the interior.

Hospitals were treating more than 70 injured people on Tuesday after 25 firefighting teams using 61 fire engines had rescued more than 100 people, reports said.

Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu on Tuesday called for a "thorough investigation" of the cause of the fire, which was extinguished by early Monday evening.

People found responsible for the fire would be "punished in accordance with law", Meng was quoted as saying.

Most of the 180 households registered in the late-1990s building were teachers and their families, including many retired teachers.

相关中文新闻：摘自腾讯网

上午11时最新消息，现已初步查明，上海“11.15”特别重大火灾事故，是一起责任事故。事故原因是由无证电焊工违章操作引起的。四名犯罪嫌疑人已被公安机关依法刑事拘留。

上海胶州路住宅楼严重火灾发生后，约100名伤者被紧急送到上海市静安区中心医院、华东医院、华山医院、瑞金医院、普陀区人民医院等。截至16日上午9时30分，上海胶州路特大火灾事故已导致53人死亡，另有70人正在医院接受治疗，其中17人伤势严重。