BEIJING (AP) -- A fire that killed 53 people at a Chinese shopping mall was caused by a cigarette dropped into flammable materials and a ``criminal suspect'' has been detained in the case, the government said Wednesday.
The official Xinhua News Agency identified the suspect as 35-year-old Yu Hongxin but didn't say whether the fire was believed to have been intentionally sparked or give other details about the man's identity.
The fire at the crowded Zhongbai Building in the northeastern city of Jilin was one of a pair of blazes Sunday in China that killed a total of 93 people. They added to a string of deadly accidents in China and prompted the government to announce a nationwide safety crackdown.
``Experts confirm that the reason for the fire was a cigarette dropped onto flammable materials'' in a storeroom, Xinhua said. ``Local police have detained the criminal suspect.''
It didn't say why Yu was considered a crime suspect.
The Jilin police department referred questions to the city's Communist Party office. That office's chief spokesman, Wei Fangchen, said he hadn't heard about the case.
The second fire Sunday, at a bamboo temple in the village of Wufeng, southwest of Shanghai, killed 40 women as they worshipped. Authorities blamed burning incense and have detained a man accused of building the temple illegally.
The fires dealt a blow to efforts by the government of President Hu Jintao to end a string of fires, coal mine accidents and other disasters that kill scores of people at a time. Investigators often blame negligence and indifference to safety rules.
Investigators, including specialists sent from Beijing, questioned dozens of people in the search for the cause of the Jilin fire.
On Tuesday, Xinhua said fire extinguishers in the mall weren't used to fight the blaze, and investigators were trying to figure out why.
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