A fire has torn through the Huiteng Footwear factory in Jinjiang, a city in China's south-eastern Fujian province, killing at least 28 people according to state news agency Xinhua. The scale of the disaster prompted President Xi Jinping to warn that the blaze had caused "significant casualties", underlining its severity in one of the country's most important manufacturing regions.

The fire broke out at around noon local time on Thursday, with footage circulated by Xinhua showing flames and thick black smoke pouring from the building and people apparently trapped on the roof. State broadcaster CCTV reported that 500 rescue workers were sent to the scene. Jinjiang is widely known as China's "shoe capital" owing to its role as a major footwear manufacturing hub. The story is still developing and casualty figures may change.