Beijing (CNN) -- Ten people died and four others were hospitalized Thursday after a fire ripped through a hotel in China's central Hunan province, state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing local government sources.
The blaze occurred at the small Xinawan Hotel in the provincial capital of Changsha just before 1 a.m. and was extinguished in about an hour.
Most of the victims died of smoke inhalation because "hotel windows were shut fast for the winter," Xinhua reported, citing a fire brigade in Changsha.
About 50 people were evacuated, and an investigation into the fire has begun, the brigade said.
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