International Desk : At least 29 people were killed after a fire that ripped through a hospital in China's capital Beijing, authorities said.

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Li Zongrong, deputy mayor of Beijing's Fengtai district, expressed his "deep condolences" as he announced the toll at a press conference. Twenty-six of the dead were patients.

The fire originated on Tuesday at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital in the capital city's Fengtai District, the Beijing Daily report said. Initial reports put the death toll at 21.

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Staff removed dozens of patients from the building soon after the fire started in the private hospital's inpatient department.

Beijing Changfeng Hospital is in the capital's western urban area, about 25 minutes by car from central Tiananmen Square.

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The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Sun News/MR

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