The fire killed seven local officials including Peng Yong'an, director of Foping County's Forestry Bureau, and two farmers, who were trying to extinguish the fire, said Lu Feng, secretary of the county committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

And another eight local officials were injured while fighting the fire, he said.

The injured were being treated at the central hospital in Hanzhong City.

An initial investigation into the blaze has reported that the fire may have been started by local farmers while they were burning sacrificial paper for their late relatives, but the probe is still ongoing, Lu said.

The fire started at about 1:00 pm on Friday on a mountain approximately one kilometer north of the county and was put out by about 7:30 am on Saturday morning.

A 3,000-yuan (US$361) funeral fee has been allocated for each of the victims, and local government officials will visit their families to convey their condolences. Further compensation will be sent to the families soon, said Lu.

The fire also destroyed some 100 mu (6.66 hectares) of bush. Fortunately, there have been no reports of pandas being harmed by the blaze, as Foping is the main home of China's rare pandas, according to a local official source.

Fire in Northeast China Under Control

While about 10,000 people were still fighting the fires in the Greater Hinggan Mountain Forest in northeast China yesterday, a source from the Heilongjiang provincial government said they were being brought under control.

Ironically, the fires started along a belt which is regularly burned to prevent outbreaks.

Given this year's scant rainfall, exceptionally dry air and rising temperatures, the forest was tinder-dry, a local forestry administration official said.

The fires are thought to have been ignited by an underground spark, a remnant of previous prevention activities along the belt, the source said.

The fires are currently burning in dry marshland and on roadsides; extinguishing the blaze will be difficult given the complex geographic features. The spot fires are covering a large area, most of which is just below the surface, the source said.

Residences and adjacent forests have so far been spared.

Full Alert on Fire Urged

Referring to the blazes in the Greater Hinggan Mountain Forest in northeast China, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday they needed to be on high alert while conducting fire control and take measures to prevent any more possible fires.

On March 22, Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Forestry Administration, and Song Fatang, governor of Heilongjiang Province, dispatched official teams to organize and direct local fire fighters. More than 2,000 policemen are assisting to fight the fires in the Greater Hinggan Mountians..

On the night of March 29, the Shaanxi provincial government held a teleconference on the prevention of forest fires and communicated instructions on the fire from Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu, said Wang Shousen, deputy governor of Shaanxi.

Hui instructed provincial officials to strictly punish those individuals responsible for starting the fire, adding that fire prevention must be enhanced, Wang said.

During the meeting, the deputy governor said that local governments at all levels in the province should step up work on the prevention of forest fires; take strict measures to control the source of fires and pay more attention to safety when fighting fires. He added that students, women and fragile people are not to take part in firefighting activities.

(Edited from China Daily and Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2003)