A fire in a workers' dormitory at a construction site in Zhouzhi county, Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, killed 14 people on Wednesday morning.

"Another 22 people were injured," said Wang Jian, director of the publicity center of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Water Resources.

Family members mourn the deaths of loved ones, killed in a fire at a site dormitory in Zhouzhi county, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Wednesday. Fourteen workers died in the blaze. Provided to China Daily

The blaze began at about 5:30 am at the construction site of a water diversion project in Qinling Mountain. The fire burned out a three-story prefabricated board house before it was put out at around 8 am.

"A preliminary investigation showed that 14 people were killed by the fire. The cause of it is still under investigation," Wang said.

The construction site is for a water diversion project that began on Dec 8 last year, conducted by a team from China Railway No 18 Bureau Group.

It is intended to send water from the Hanjiang River in southern Shaanxi to the Weihe River in order to provide more water to Xi'an and the central part of the province, which suffer from shortages.

Lou Qinjian, executive vice-governor of Shaanxi province, visited the site of the blaze with city and county officials after the incident.

Contact the writers at malie@chinadaily.com.cn and luhongyan@chinadaily.com.cn