Fifteen people were killed after a building fire broke out Friday morning in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, the municipal government said on Saturday morning.

At around 4:39 a.m. on Friday, the local fire department received an alarm about the fire in a residential building in the Yuhuatai District.

Rescuers put out the flames at around 6 a.m., and the search and rescue operation at the scene ended at around 2 p.m.

Forty-four injured people are receiving hospital treatment.

A preliminary investigation found that the fire erupted on the building's first floor, where electrical bicycles were placed.

Further investigation is underway.