BEIJING (AFP) - - Three firefighters were killed battling a spectacular blaze that engulfed a 12-storey shopping and office complex in western China, state media said Thursday.

The fire, which broke out on Wednesday evening, raged out of control for more than 15 hours, gutting most of the building that housed more than 2,000 clothes, cosmetics and other stalls, Xinhua news agency said.

Most of the occupants of the Dehui International Plaza in Urumqi, capital of the remote Xinjiang region, had left by the time the fire started, Xinhua said, quoting local fire brigade officials.

The blaze also took hold in an adjacent 20-storey hotel, however everyone in there had already been evacuated, according to Xinhua.

Aside from the firemen, there were no reports of other casualties, Xinhua said.