A fire kills 16 people at a shopping mall in southwestern China

BEIJING (AP) — State media in China say that a fire at a shopping mall has killed 16 people in the southwestern Chinese city of Zigong. The official news agency Xinhua reported that firefighters and rescuers responded to the fire call shortly after 6 p.m. at the 14-story commercial building and that they pulled 75 people to safety. Rescue efforts were ongoing, and the cause of the fire was not immediately known. The building houses a department store, offices, restaurants and a movie theater. Social media video posts showed clouds of thick black smoke coming out of windows from the building’s lower levels and engulfing the entire 14-story structure as they rose into the sky.