A building - possibly a residential tower - northwest of Changping Lu Station, near the intersection of Changping Lu and Changle Lu, looked to be totally engulfed in flames at 2:30pm Monday afternoon.
Crowds of people were gathered outside Changping Road Station watching, and officers were attempting to move along bottle-necked traffic at the intersection due to gawkers.
Billowing smoke was visible from blocks away.
No word yet on how the fire started or if anyone was inside.
Update, 3:15pm: According to Daily Telegraph correspondent
Malcolm Moore's Twitter the building is on Yuyao Lu and Changde Lu. It's a 'teacher's apartment building' - about 20 floors high - and there are several workers trapped on the roof and outside scaffolding attempting to get down.