Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a building in Shanghai, November 15, 2010. A 30-storey residential building caught fire on Monday, local firefighters said in a Xinhua News Agency report. At least 12 are dead and dozens more injured, according to Reuters. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

The total number of casualties has yet to be confirmed and the cause of the blaze remains unknown, according to the Xinhua news agency. Photo: REUTERS/Aly Song

Locals gathered to watch the blaze. Photo: REUTERS/Aly Song

Photo: REUTERS/Aly Song

The Shanghaiist has exhaustive coverage of the distaster: "A terrible fire has broken out in an apartment block … 728 Jiaozhou Lu Building 1, near the corner of Yuyao Lu in Jing'an. The huge fire is reportedly 10 stories high and the blaze started with the scaffolding." [Thanks, Frank_in_Virginia]

Here's video from Karl Loo: