Four people died in a fire at a shopping mall in Chizhou, a city in East China's Anhui province, on Tuesday morning, according to local emergency management authorities.

The fire broke out on the roof of the shopping mall in the city's downtown Guichi district at about 8:52 am and had burned an area of about 400 square meters by 10 am when the fire was extinguished, according to the Anhui provincial Emergency Management Bureau in the afternoon.

Six people were trapped by the fire and after being rescued, were sent to a hospital. Two have been discharged from the hospital, while the other four died, the bureau said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.