21 killed in two fire accidents in China

BEIJING: At least 21 people, including school students, were killed in two separate fire incidents in China, local authorities said on Saturday. In the first accident, 13 students were confirmed killed in a fire that took place at the Yingcai School in Henan Province's Yanshanpu village on Friday night.

The local fire department received an alarm about the fire at the school at 11 pm local time Friday night.

Rescuers arrived at the scene quickly and the flames were extinguished at around 11:30 pm.

One person injured in the fire is currently receiving treatment at the hospital and is in stable condition, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
All of the dead were third-grade students, a teacher told Zonglan News, a state-backed media outlet from Hebei province.

Local authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire.

In another incident, eight people were killed in a fire following a dust explosion at a production workshop in Changzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province on early Saturday morning.

The explosion took place at 3:38 am. It also resulted in minor injuries to eight people, according to the district's emergency management department.

Rescue operations at the site have been concluded, and investigations as well as follow-up work are currently underway, the Xinhua report said.

Fatal fires in China are not uncommon due to lax enforcement of building and safety standards.

In November, 26 people died after a large fire ripped through an office building in Luliang City, Shanxi province.

A hospital fire in Beijing last April claimed the lives of at least 29 people - mostly patients - and triggered an investigation which saw 12 people detained by police for questioning. (PTI)