Flammable construction materials and insufficient fire prevention equipment contributed to a plant fire that killed at least 120 people in northeast China's Jilin Province on Monday, a government official said Tuesday.

A fire broke out at around 6:06 am Monday at a workshop owned by the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company in Mishazi township of Dehui City, Northeast China's Jilin Province. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

Gao Guangbin, Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of the provincial capital of Changchun, also blamed poor design of the exits of the poultry processing plant, which made the escape difficult.

"All construction materials used to build the workshop were flammable, creating an enormous fire hazard," Gao said.

A leaking ammonia tank at the plant may have been the cause of the fire but investigators are still trying to identify exactly what happened before fire broke out on Monday morning.

Authorities have notified the families of the deceased so that they may claim the victims' bodies, said Zhao Xian, deputy secretary-general of the municipal government of Changchun, at a press conference held Tuesday afternoon.

Sixty-seven bodies have been identified and technicians are trying to identify the others using DNA testing, Zhao said.

The Changchun government has ordered checks on public places such as schools, hospitals, entertainment venues and shopping malls to remove fire hazards.

The provincial government has also ordered checks on workplaces including mines and construction sites.

The poultry processing plant owned by the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company in Mishazi Township is about 100 kilometers northeast of Changchun.

A 36-year-old male worker surnamed Liu told Xinhua that this was not the first fire to hit the poultry workshop. Three years ago, there was a less serious fire in the building.

(Xinhua contributed to this story)

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