Death toll rises to 120 in NE China fire

The death toll from a fire at a poultry factory in northeastern China's Jilin Province has risen to 120.

The fire broke out on Monday at a poultry processing workshop owned by the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company in Mishazi Township, in the city of Dehui. Over 300 workers were in the plant when the fire began.

Survivors said they heard a sudden bang and then witnessed dark smoke. Around 90 percent of the victims are reported as female. Established in 2009, the poultry company has over 1-thousand employees and an annual output of 67-thousand tons of chicken products.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate has sent procurators to the company to join in the investigation of the accident.