China officials to be punished for dance hall blaze

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BEIJING (Reuters) - China will likely sack five officials in connection with a fire at an illegal dance club in southern China, just across the border from Hong Kong, which killed 43 mostly young people and injured 88.

Police had detained 13 people in connection with the fireincluding the manager of the unlicensed club in Longgang, ablue-collar area about an hour's taxi ride from Shenzhen.

The fire broke out on Saturday night at the "King of theDancers" club, when more than 300 people were watching a show.

Fireworks set off during the show ignited flammablematerial in the ceiling leading to the blaze, the officialXinhua news agency reported citing an initial policeinvestigation.

China's Ministry of Culture had also ordered a nationalsafety sweep on all "cultural and performance facilities" andwould close any unlicensed venues, Xinhua said.

"It told its local offices to blacklist problematicfacilities and coordinate with work safety departments tofollow up until the problems were resolved," the report added.

Police said the club was very popular and it was notuncommon for fights to break out.

The five officials include the head of the local firedepartment. The blaze is a grim reminder of the country'sbroken regulatory system and patchy fire safety regulations.

A nightclub fire in Luoyang, in central Henan province,killed 309 people on Christmas Day in 2000.

Local television footage showed police sealing off roadsleading to the gutted nightclub and busloads of investigatorsbeing brought in to examine the crime scene on Monday.Meanwhile, a stream of tearful relatives were shown visiting amorgue to identify the dead.

Five of the dead came from nearby Hong Kong.

Shenzhen's Communist Party chief, Liu Yupu, had ordereddistrict-wide safety inspections and a probe into the incidentinvolving safety and provincial officials, Xinhua added.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and James Pomfret inHong Kong)