Police have detained the owners of a bar in south China after at least 26 people died and 11 were injured in a Christmas Day fire, state media said yesterday.

Fire-fighters rushed to the scene and put out the blaze, which broke out shortly before midnight on Sunday at Tandao bar in Zhongshan, a city in Guangdong province, the media said.

Over a hundred people were inside the unlicensed bar when fire broke out on Sunday night. The four brothers who ran it were held by police yesterday, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The report did not say if the men have been charged with any crimes, but it cited a government official as saying the bar "was not equipped with any fire extinguishers and the safety exit was extremely narrow."

A police officer in Tanzhou township reached by telephone ruled out media speculation that arson was the cause of the fire, but declined further comment.