Thirteen people died in a fire in a school dormitory in Henan province, in central China, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
“
At 11:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. in Paris) on Friday, the local fire department received an alert about a fire in the Yingcai School dormitory in Yanshanpu village
,” state media reported.
An injured person is “
currently being treated in hospital and is in stable condition.
» According to this source, “
help arrived quickly on the scene and the flames were extinguished at 11:38 p.m.
”.
Local authorities have opened an investigation to determine the causes of the fire, state media said, adding that at least one person linked to the school had been arrested.
Frequent accidents
Little information is available about the school where the fire broke out Friday, but videos posted on social media before the fire showed young children - including kindergarten students - dressed in scrubs with the emblem of the establishment, learning calligraphy.
Xinhua did not specify how many children were among the victims.
Also read: China: 11 dead and 51 hospitalized after building fire
Accidents occur regularly in China, often due to the poor application of safety standards.
In November, 26 people died and dozens were hospitalized following a fire in a coal production company building in the northern province of Shanxi.
In Beijing, a fire in a hospital killed 29 people in April, one of the worst disasters to occur in the capital in more than twenty years.
This fire forced patients to escape through windows by hanging on sheets and to take refuge by perching on air conditioners attached to the facade.