Sauna parlour blaze kills 18

AT least 18 people died and three were injured in a fire which gutted a six-storey sauna parlour in Guangzhou.

The dead were young women working at the Guang Tao Ge Sauna, an enterprise involving Hong Kong interests.

Local television reported last night that at least 10 people living in a staff hostel on the building's upper floors were still missing.

Twenty-four staff members were rescued, but it took 200 firemen, using 10 tenders, three hours to bring the blaze under control late on Friday.

The firemen, hampered by neon advertising signs outside the building, used large fans to drive the dense smoke from the building.

It is believed that most victims died of smoke inhalation.