Another 24 people were hurt in the fire, which broke out at 1 a.m. (1700 GMT Sunday), China’s official Xinhua News Agency said. It did not immediately give a cause for the blaze.

The first-floor garment shop was unlicensed, and the floors above it were used to accommodate workers, Xinhua said. Iron bars installed over windows to keep out burglars may have prevented people from escaping, it said.

Xinhua quoted Chang Hongyan, the deputy government head of the local Daxing district, as saying most of the dead died of smoke inhalation.

Building fires are common in China because of lax safety codes and unsafe construction work. In November, 58 people were killed in a Shanghai apartment fire that was blamed on welders ignoring safety precautions.

Also Monday, Xinhua reported that firefighters were battling a blaze after an explosion at a pesticide factory in Guangxi region in southern China. It said there were several collapsed buildings, but that it was not immediately known if there were any casualties.