Police have detained 9 suspects in connection with a deadly fire that killed at least 17 people at the Yiwu Commodity Mall in Huizhou, Huidong county, in Guangdong province, Guo Wupiao, executive deputy magistrate of Huidong county told a news conference on Friday.

Guo said six people injured in the fire?- four firefighters and two university students?- were still hospitalized.

A firefighter who was seriously injured after breathing in dense smoke was still in an intensive care unit but is out of danger, he said.

"The investigation into the cause of the fire is still going on," he said.

A special task force has been set up to investigate the case and deal with its consequences.

The fire broke out in the four-story 15,000 square meters Yiwu Commodity Mall at 1:51 pm on Thursday. Five people were rescued from the building.

The 1,100 private business owners from the mall said they have suffered heavy economic losses and urged relevant department to investigate the case and make the findings public to help them seek compensation.