Beijing, Feb 24: At least 15 people were killed and 44 others injured when a building caught fire in China, a month after 39 people died in a similar accident.

The building fire broke out in Nanjing, the capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, the municipal government said on Saturday.

Forty-four injured in the fire that broke out on Friday morning are receiving treatment at a local hospital.

A preliminary investigation found that the fire erupted on the building's first floor, where electrical bicycles were placed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

This is the second major fire accident in China in about a month.

Thirty-nine people were killed and nine others injured in a building fire that broke out in Xinyu City in east China's Jiangxi Province on January 24.

The fire broke out in a street shop in the Yushui District of Xinyu.

Following the mishap, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered steps to curb repeated occurrences of such accidents and to protect people's lives, and property and ensure social stability.

Fatal fires in China are not uncommon due to lax enforcement of building and safety standards.

On January 20, at least 13 students were killed when a fire broke out in a school dormitory in central China's Henan province. All the victims were third-grade students.

In November last year, 26 people died after a large fire ripped through an office building in Luliang city in Shanxi province.

A hospital fire in Beijing last April claimed the lives of at least 29 people - mostly patients - and triggered an investigation.

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Pune (PTI): A weekend picnic at Pavana river in Pune district of Maharashtra turned tragic for a group of youngsters on Sunday, with three of them drowning in the water body, police said.

A group of seven men had gone to the river near Thugaon in Maval tehsil in the afternoon.

"Three of the seven youths could not gauge the depth of the river and slipped into a whirlpool. Their friends raised an alarm; however, by then, all three had drowned," said Dinesh Tayde, senior police inspector, Lonavala (Rural).

He said the bodies were retrieved with the help of local rescuers. 

The deceased have been identified as Ashwin Bhalerao (18), Ayan Shaikh, and Prathamesh Shinde (21), who were residents of Yerwada, Hadapsar, and Sayyadwadi in Pune, respectively. 

In a similar incident, three men drowned in the Jadhavwadi dam in Maval tehsil while attempting to click a selfie two days back.