Eight people died in a factory fire on Sunday in Shenzhen City of south China's Guangdong Province, local authorities have confirmed.?

The fire broke out at about 2:15 PM in a four-storey building of the Yanghua High-tech Factory that produces electronic components.

Rescuers put the fire out in an hour. They recovered eight bodies from the debris who'd been suffocated. A total of 235 workers were evacuated and another ten rescued.

The rescued were taken to hospital. One of them is in serious condition but not suffering from life threatening injuries, according to local sources.

As employees were working weekend overtime it's not known how many were in the building when the blaze occurred. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2007)