Horror moment huge inferno engulfs 14-storey shopping centre killing 16

HORRIFIC footage shows an enormous fire raging at a 14-storey shopping centre in China, where at least 16 people have died.

Video shows enormous plumes of black smoke engulfing the building in Zigong, Sichuan province.

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More than a dozen people died in the blaze on Wednesday evening, in southwestern China, and the fire has since been put out.

Emergency services rushed to the scene just after 6pm and pulled 75 people to safety, news agency Xinhua reports.

While the cause of the fire is unknown, early reports suggest it could have been caused by construction at the huge shopping centre.

Dramatic video showed people trapped in the burning building with one person trying to climb free from a window.

Huge flames could be seen pouring from the side of the block as firefighters desperately fought the blaze.

Local media said firefighters also used several drones.

A huge crane was propped up against the highest floors of the building to help pull trapped people to safety.

The huge rescue operation lasted overnight and ended in the early hours of Thursday morning.

It was not immediately known how many people were in the building when the fire broke out.

The building is home to a department store, offices, restaurants and a movie theatre.

China battles an ongoing problem of fire hazards, with 947 fire-related fatalities from the beginning of this year through to mid May.

Li Wanfeng, spokesperson for the National Fire and Rescue Administration, said the figures were up almost 20 per cent from the previous year.

In January, a fire killed 39 people in a commercial building in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. 

And in February, another 15 people were killed in a residential building in Nanjing, when a parking lot that housed electric bikes caught fire.

In April last year, at least 21 people were killed died in a tragic fire at a hospital in China’s capital city, Beijing.

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