Video: Chinese cinema manager dies saving patrons

The five-story building that housed the cinema and apartments was destroyed in the fire which was finally extinguished at around 3am yesterday.

Rescuers found the body of Deng on the ground at 2am with a mobile phone in his left hand and a fire extinguisher in the right. Doctors said Deng suffocated from heavy smoke.

The building was built in 1979. The first floor is leased for small shops and the second and third floors housed the cinemas. The top two floors had 23 apartment units.

Hengyang's 119 emergency center received Deng's fire report at 8:40pm on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency said. The emergency center said Deng reported flames sizzling out from an advertisement light box on the second floor.

At least 100 firemen were dispatched to the scene.

About 120 people were in the cinema hall which was showing the animated film "Transformers."

About 35 people, including employees of the cinema, lived on the fourth and fifth floors of the building.

Deng was seen carrying several people out of the building on his back, Xinhua reported.

"He said he would check the upper floors to make sure everyone got out," said Yi Li, the cinema's booking clerk. "He handed me a briefcase and rushed upstairs."

Later, he called the cinema's vice manager Li Hainan for help because he was trapped in the fire.

Calls to Deng's mobile phone went unanswered minutes later.

A bus and 14 motorcycles outside the cinema were also damaged. Thousands of bystanders were evacuated from the area as precaution in case the building collapsed, the Hunan-based Sanxiang City Express reported.

The fire brought back memories of another fatal blaze in Hengyang in November 2003. That blaze burnt down a nine-story residential and office building, killing 20 firemen.