Beijing ? A fire swept through a hospital in northeastern China on Thursday, killing at least 39 people, including patients, state media said.

Witnesses were quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying that some people leapt from the burning hospital buildings in Jilin province. It was not immediately clear whether those who jumped were among the dead.

At least some of the victims were patients who died while being transferred to other hospitals, the news agency said.

The fire started about 5 p.m. Thursday at the largest hospital in Liaoyuan city, about 75 miles southwest of Changchun, the capital of Jilin province, witnesses said.