However, authorities did not provide details on what caused the blaze, which broke out shortly after noon local time on Tuesday.

Images from the scene showed huge flames spurting from the windows and doors of the multi-storey building in Liaoyang, about 580 km northeast of the capital Beijing.

 Videos published on social media, showed paramedics wheeling one victim on a stretcher into an ambulance and several firefighters battling the flames with hoses. 

Another video from the social media platform shot from above the scene showed more than a dozen fire engines parked outside the restaurant.