The Chinese ambassador to Seoul, Ning Fukui, yesterday called for South Korea to open an investigation into the cause of a fire that claimed the lives of eight Chinese and injured 17 others, embassy officials said.

In a meeting with South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Jung-pyo, Ning stated the Chinese government would monitor the investigation closely.

The fire was a "shocking incident," and is being regarded very seriously by the Chinese government, the ambassador said. He requested that the South Korean government take appropriate action to avoid similar incidents ensure in future and to make adequate arrangements for the victims.

Ning will fly to Yeosu today to visit the injured in hospital and express his condolences, Zhao Dengyu, consul at the Chinese embassy, said, adding that three of the dead still need to be identified.

The embassy is renewing efforts to contact the families of the victims.

Earlier yesterday, the Chinese embassy dispatched a general consul to Yeosu, some 450 kilometers south of Seoul, to join the two Chinese consuls already sent down on Sunday afternoon.

Zhao said the embassy will receive the victims' families from China and will expedite their visa applications. Whether the bodies will be repatriated back to China or buried in South Korea will be decided by the families, he added.

The fire broke out at a Yeosu immigration detention center before dawn on Sunday, also killing an Uzbek national and injuring a Sri Lankan.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry set up an emergency damage control team yesterday. Meanwhile, the Yonhap News Agency quoted unidentified witnesses as saying the fire had propagated from the third floor of the four-storey building, although the cause was still undetermined.

(China Daily February 13, 2007)