Deadly fire in China poultry plant

The fire broke out at a slaughterhouse in Dehui in Jilin province early on Monday, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

The fire is now said to have been mostly put out and bodies are being recovered.

There are reports that it took hold early in the morning and that explosions were heard.

Some sources including the provincial fire department suggest there may have been an ammonia leak which either caused the fire or made fighting the blaze more hazardous.

Other accounts speak of an electrical fault.

It is China's deadliest fire since 2000, when 309 people died in a blaze in a dance hall in Luoyang, in Henan province.

About 100 workers had managed to escape from the Baoyuan plant, Xinhua said, adding that the "complicated interior structure" of the building and narrow exits had made rescue work more difficult.

It said the plant's front gate had been locked when the blaze began.

According to BBC, the number of workers trapped inside the plant had yet to be confirmed, the agency added, and it is not clear how many workers have been accounted for. An unnamed government official told AFP news agency he expected the death toll to rise.

Dozens of injured have been sent to hospital, but the severity of their injuries remains unclear.

Pictures from the scene showed the roof mostly burned away to reveal blackened, twisted girders.

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