Beijing ( CNN ) -- An early morning fire at a poultry processing plant in northeast China killed at least 119 people Monday , state-run Xinhua news agency said . Another 54 workers were injured . More than 300 workers were inside the plant in Jilin province when the fire broke out about 6 a.m. , Xinhua said . About 100 of them were able to escape -- and told Xinhua that the gates to the plant were locked . `` Suddenly , the lights inside went out and the plant got quite dark , '' a worker named Wang Fengya told the news agency . `` When I finally ran out and looked back at the plant , I saw high flames . '' Firefighters battled the blaze for six hours before they were able to bring it under control . A fire official told CNN that an explosion at the plant started the fire -- but the cause of the blast was n't immediately known . `` The complicated interior structure of the prefabricated house in which the fire broke out and the narrow exits have added difficulties to the rescue work , sources with rescue forces said , '' the Xinhua report said . CNN 's Dayu Zhang reported from Beijing and Zarifmo Aslamshoyeva from Atlanta .
More than 300 workers were inside at the time . Escapees tell Xinhua the gates were locked when the fire breaks out . Authorities do not know how many people are trapped in the plant . The `` complicated structure '' and `` narrow exits '' are posing difficulties for rescuers .