Twelve Chinese construction workers were killed and 24 injured in a fire at their dormitory early Wednesday, state media reported.

The blaze broke out at a water-diversion project in Zhouzhi county in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement from local authorities as saying.

It said two of the injured had been discharged from hospital while the others were still undergoing treatment. The workers are employed by a tunnel engineering subsidiary of China Railway 18th Bureau Group.