AFP, Beijing

A restaurant fire in northeastern China killed 22 people and injured three yesterday, Beijing’s state media said, with footage posted online showing fierce flames engulfing the building.

The blaze erupted at lunchtime in Liaoyang City, about 580 kilometres northeast of the capital Beijing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

“The incident has resulted in 22 deaths and three injuries,” it added.

President Xi Jinping said that the blaze had caused “significant casualties” and that the lessons from it were “profoundly serious”, CCTV said.

Xi called for “every effort to treat the injured, properly handle the aftermath for the deceased and provide support to their families, swiftly determine the cause of the fire, and pursue accountability in accordance with the law,” the report added.

Footage shared online and verified by AFP showed the inferno engulfing the two-storey restaurant and smoke billowing skyward.

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

The country has seen a spate of such deadly incidents in recent months.

This month, 20 people died in a fire at a nursing home in northern China’s Hebei province.