The disaster added to a string of deadly blazes that have plagued China despite official efforts to improve public safety over the past two decades.
The fire broke out at the four-story Beilong Hot Spring Hotel in Harbin’s Sun Island recreation area at 4:36 a.m. and was extinguished at 7:50 a.m. by a force of 105 firefighters with 30 firetrucks, state television reported.
The cause was under investigation, the Xinhua News Agency said.
Harbin, with about 5 million people, is the second-largest city in China’s northeast, after Shenyang. It is known for the Russian architecture of its inner city and as the site of a winter festival with sculptures made of ice blocks cut from the Songhua River.
The ruling Communist Party has tried to improve fire safety following deadly blazes at hotels, shopping malls and apartment buildings. But the country still suffers major fires.
In November, a fire blamed on faulty wiring at a Beijing apartment building killed 19 people.
A 2010 blaze at a Shanghai apartment tower killed at least 58 people. Authorities blamed sparks from a welder’s torch.The rescue operation is ongoing," the agency said in a report, citing information from local firefighters.
"An enquiry into the causes of the fire is underway," it added, without giving further details.
Hotel fires are common in China, where fire security regulations are routinely neglected.
In April, 18 people were killed and five more injured in a fire at a karaoke establishment in the country´s south.
In November, a fire left 19 people dead and eight injured at a boarding house in Beijing. And in May 2015, 38 people were found dead in a fire at a retirement home in central Henan province.
