Ministry urges probe into Shanghai factory fire

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) has urged an investigation into the cause of a fire that claimed eight lives in Shanghai.

The fire broke out at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a plant in Jinshan District, which mainly manufactures electronic-product accessories, trapping four employees. Two firefighters and two technicians of the plant went missing amid their efforts to search and rescue the trapped workers.

A total of 123 fire trucks, eight fire-fighting robots and 976 firefighters from local fire stations were deployed for recuse work, according to the MEM.

The MEM also dispatched a work team and experts to Shanghai to guide the rescue operations.

After the blaze was brought under control at 6:20 a.m. Friday, the eight people were found dead, the MEM said.

Local authorities have been urged to draw lessons from the fire and prevent such accidents from happening again, the MEM added.