Eight people were killed in a residential building fire on Tuesday night in the city of Shantou in Guangdong, local authorities said.

The blaze erupted at 9.21 pm in the city's Chaonan District and was extinguished less than 40 minutes later, the district's fire department said in the early hours of Wednesday.

The fire claimed eight lives and left four injured.

Preliminary investigations show the building was a four-storey self-built concrete structure, with about 150 square metres affected by the blaze.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. (Xinhua)