4 Chinese killed in Russia's factory fire

IRKUTSK - Four Chinese workers were killed and five others injured Sunday in a fire that engulfed a wood factory in Russia's Far Eastern city of Zima, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Chinese Consul General in Irkutsk Guo Zhijun (R) visits an injured Chinese worker at a hospital in Zima, Russia, April 14, 2013. Four Chinese workers were killed and five others injured Sunday in a fire that engulfed a wood factory in Russia's Far Eastern city of Zima. One worker is still missing, said Chinese Consul General in Irkutsk Guo Zhijun. [Photo/Xinhua]

The fire broke out in a makeshift wooden shelter which houses about 20 Chinese workers and spread to an area of 300 square meters, according to local authorities.

Investigators said the four dead were male, but their identities had yet to be determined.

Preliminary investigation showed the fire was triggered by an electrical fault, and the death toll was likely to rise further.

Chinese Consul General in Irkutsk Guo Zhijun and other consular staff were on the way to Zima, a city of more than 300,000 residents in the south of the Irkutsk region.