Shanghai fire death toll at 6

Firefighting authorities are urging people to pay attention to fire control in winter, a common season for fires, as several fires broke out around the country recently, claiming lives and causing economic losses.

In the latest case, a fire on Sunday night at the Shanghai Farm Produce Wholesale Market killed six people and injured dozens.

The fire started at 8:32 pm inside a dried farm goods store and soon spread throughout 2,000 square meters of the market before being extinguished 45 minutes later, according to a statement from the local government.

Firefighters found six bodies at the scene and the badly burned woman. A nurse from Changhai Hospital named Feng told China Daily that the family of a 57-year-old woman injured in the accident was told several times on Sunday night that she was near death, but the woman survived and remains in critical condition. 

Li Changju, 49, a fish seller from Anhui province, said she was sleeping on the mezzanine floor when her store went up in flames. 

"My son screamed 'fire'," said Li. "I hurried downstairs in my pajamas ― it was like I was racing with the fire, which moved quickly along the wooden stairs. You've got no time to save your money and property in the store."

Li, who suffered burns to 3 percent of her body, is now in the burns unit of Shanghai's Changhai Hospital. She said because her shop was a wet area, the fire "came from above instead of below" from the dry-goods store close to her shop.

Li lost her niece and her nephew's wife, both in their 30s, in the fire. 

"One of my relatives escaped, but she went back for her belongings and never came back," Li said, adding that she also lost 40,000 yuan ($6,349) in cash in the fire.