BEIJING — Thirteen people have died in a school dormitory fire in central China’s Henan province, the official Xinhua news agency reported Saturday.
The blaze at the Yingcai School in Henan’s Yanshanpu village was reported to the local fire department at 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) Friday night, Xinhua said.
Thirteen people have been confirmed dead, the news agency said, adding that one person was injured.
“Rescuers arrived at the scene quickly and the flames were extinguished at 11″38 p.m.,” Xinhua said.
The injured survivor “is currently receiving treatment at the hospital and is in stable condition,” according to Xinhua.
Xinhua did not say if any of the dead were children.
However, a report in the Hebai Daily said a teacher confirmed that all the victims were students from the same third-grade class of nine- and 10-year-olds.
Local authorities are investigating the fire’s cause, and at least one person linked to the school has been detained, Xinhua said.
Online anger
Yanshanpu village lies on the outskirts of Nanyang, a city of nearly 10 million.
Little information about the boarding school is publicly available, though social media videos published earlier showed young children including kindergarteners wearing smocks with the school’s logo as well as older children learning calligraphy.
Chinese social media users on Saturday expressed outrage about the fire and called for any safety lapses to be punished.
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