CHANGSHA - Three people died in an apartment fire in Changsha, provincial capital of Hunan, local police said Tuesday.

The local fire brigade said the fire broke out at 5:28 am on Tuesday in an apartment in a residential building in the city's Kaifu District. Three people died of asphyxiation.

The fire was put out shortly after 6 a.m., and the cause and property losses are under investigation.