Three people were killed and 23 others injured, nine critically, in a fire that broke out at a building near Qinxian North Street in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province on Saturday evening, CCTV News reported on Sunday.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, and follow-up work is ongoing.

The fire broke out at around 8 pm on Saturday, and the open flames were largely extinguished the same night, with fire and rescue personnel conducting search and rescue operations inside the building that evening, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

The structure that caught fire and a hotel are located in the same building, with the point of origin situated on the eastern side, where a north-south thoroughfare runs, Chinanews.com reported on Sunday.

Multiple on-site fire videos posted by netizens show that the blaze was largely concentrated on the exterior walls of the building.

By 1:00 am Sunday, extensive burn marks were visible on the exterior wall of the building’s eastern side, while several storefronts adjacent to the passage were gutted by the fire and sustained severe damage, Chinanews.com reported.

Several electric bicycles parked in front of the storefronts were burned down to bare metal frames, according to the report.

The passage of the building was strewn with debris, much of its residue from burned aluminum composite panels, per chinanews.com.