“It must be caused by something inflammable,” said an injured man lying on the bed next to Liu in hospital, declining to give his name. A woman who survived uninjured claimed she smelled the odor of fuel.

Firefighters rushed to the site in about 20 minutes after the fire broke out. An almost completely blackened shell of a vehicle with all of its windows missing was left after the extinguishment.

Most of the injured were sent to two hospitals including Changhai, where advertising company employee Zhu Junyi had 50 percent of her skin burned and was still in critical condition at noon time yesterday. Her parents said about five people were seriously wounded and treated at Changhai Hospital.