Probe into deadly China school fire
– Authorities in central China’s Henan Province were yesterday looking into the cause of a night-time fire that killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory.
The inferno, which took place at the Yingcai School in Yanshanpu village, was reported to the local fire department late on Friday night and was put out about 40 minutes later, said official news agency Xinhua.
A total of 13 students died in the blaze, while one other person suffered injuries.
Dozens of police were in and around a cordoned-off area near the school yesterday morning.
An official at the scene said: “There is an investigation ongoing inside. Nobody can go in.”
Several windows on the side of the school were broken – the only obvious signs of a major accident at the building.
Vertical metal bars covered the school’s windows, while a permanent sign on the building’s facade read: “Enter the kindergarten happily and go home happily.”
A teacher at the school said all the victims were from the same third-grade class of nine and 10 year olds.
Yesterday, a row of shops next to the school stood mostly shuttered, while a small clinic in a crumbling courtyard building appeared unattended.
A few locals went about their day and a couple of children played as police cars made loops around the cordoned-off area.
Authorities are investigating the fire’s cause, and at least one person linked to the school has been detained.
No official explanation of the cause of the deadly blaze has yet been provided, although some domestic media reports suggested it was related to an electric heating device.