The alert comes as millions of Chinese head home for Spring Festival family reunions.

The Ministry of Public Security's fire-fighting unit attributed the cause of the spate of incidents to poor fire prevention knowledge and careless use of heaters.

Ten people died and four were injured -- mostly members of the same family -- in a large blaze that broke out around midnight on Monday, in a five-story residential building in Fuding city, East China's Fujian Province.

Many of the dead and injured made fatal mistakes when trying to escape the burning building, according to mass circulation local newspaper the Haixia Dushi Newspaper.

Early reports from the investigation suggest that the victims were all asleep when the fire broke out. After the alarm was raised they tried to flee to safety, but were hampered by the lack of light after the electricity went off.

But they were only able to get as far as the first floor where they found their exit barred by a locked iron gate.

Most of those who died succumbed to smoke inhalation, while three died after jumping out of the burning building.

Fire-fighters who rushed to the scene had to cut open the chain-locked gate before hauling the five survivors out. A total of 15 people were inside the building at the time of the fire, mostly members of the Fei family.

Only one person escaped uninjured, the eight-year-old daughter of Fei Hankuai, the cousin of the landlord who survived.

The newspaper quoted the little girl as saying of her ordeal: ``I just felt a little bit of a pain in my stomach when my daddy was carrying me and jumped from the second floor.''

Renovation work is already underway on the fire damaged building.Fuding local government and Ningde local civil affairs bureau has agreed to provide 120,000 yuan (US$14,423) by way of assistance to the victims who were not insured.

Following the fatal blaze the Fujian provincial government and the local government have ordered that increased safety checks be carried out throughout the province.

A couple of days after the Fuding blaze a fire in a karaoke bar in Cangzhou city, North China's Hebei Province claimed two lives and injured three.

All the victims were young hostesses working in the sixth floor bar located in an office building, reported a local newspaper, Yanzhao Metropolis Daily.

The terrified employees tried to flee down the stairs, while others leapt from windows.One young woman was reported to have suffered serious burns to her face.

Fire investigators believe the blaze was caused by an oil-heater.

The same day, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, five people died and 11 others were injured in an hotel fire, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

(China Daily January 18, 2003)