At least 28 people were killed after a massive fire tore through a shoe factory in eastern China's Fujian province on Thursday, triggering a large-scale rescue operation and drawing a response from President Xi Jinping.

The blaze broke out around noon at the Huiteng Shoes factory in Jinjiang city. Firefighters and emergency personnel rushed to the scene to battle the flames and search for those trapped inside the building.

Rescue operations continued for hours amid fears that more workers could still be inside.

According to Chinese state media, the preliminary death toll has risen to 28. Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the fire, and an investigation is underway.

Reacting to the tragedy, President Xi Jinping described the incident as one involving ‘heavy human losses’ and called for every possible effort to rescue those affected, treat the injured, and determine the cause of the fire to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The incident is among the deadliest industrial accidents reported in China this year.