Police were seen standing near the school in the Henan province. Image: GETTY IMAGES
Fire in a School Dormitory in the Province of Henan left 13 People Dead- China.
The Xinhua state news agency of China stated that thirteen pupils, ages nine and ten, had been confirmed dead after a fire broke out in a school dormitory in central China.
At Yanshanpu village in Henan province’s Yingcai School, a fatal fire broke out on Friday night.
An inquiry is underway, and the school’s manager, who works close to Nanyang city, has been taken into custody. Another patient is receiving stable medical care in a hospital.
The deaths were all from the same third-grade class, an instructor at the school confirmed to the state-run Hebei Daily. When the fire started, about thirty students were inside the dorm; the other students were successfully evacuated.
Less than an hour after firefighters were notified, the fire was put out, according to Xinhua.
Through official channels, no additional information was provided regarding the identity of the deceased or the reason behind the fire.
Images published by the state media display broken windows in the dorm building, a cordoned-off area surrounding the school and police officers policing the area.
The school, which has been in operation for ten years and is privately owned, serves nursery and primary school students who live in the surrounding rural areas, according to Xinhua.
Children in the school’s nursery had already left for the weekend, according to the agency. Because construction and safety regulations are rarely strictly enforced, fatal fires frequently occur in China.
In November, a massive fire in Luliang City, Shanxi province, destroyed an office building, resulting in the deaths of 26 persons.
At least 29 people, mostly patients, died in a hospital fire in Beijing in April of last year.
The incident also prompted an inquiry that resulted in the detention of 12 persons by police for interrogation.
People could be seen in horrifying video of the fire jumping out of windows and onto air conditioners to get away from the flames.