Eighteen people killed in fire at foot massage parlour in China

At least eighteen people were killed and another 18 injured after a fire destroyed a foot massage parlour in China.

The fire broke out at around 5:26 pm yesterday (local time) in eastern Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

It was extinguished in less than two hours.

Eight people died in the fire, while another 10 died in hospital, according to Xinhua.

Video posted on Chinese social media website Weibo showed thick black smoke billowing from the massage parlour and people jumping out of the second-floor window of the six-storey building.

Shards of broken glass were strewn across the floor of the massage parlour. "Windows in the third and fourth floor, where residents lived, were also shattered," the Beijing News said, quoting a witness.

Police today detained one person in connection to the fatal blaze.

The cause of the fire remains unclear, Xinhua said.

Fire safety procedures are routinely ignored in China, with exit doors often locked and escape passages blocked in buildings across the country.

Seven people died in a fire in an elderly care facility last month.