38 aged people die in old age home fire in China

BEIJING: At least 38 old people were killed and six others injured in a fire that broke out in a rest home that houses the aged in Central China's Henan province on Monday evening. The injured, two of whom suffered serious wounds, have been shifted to the hospital.

The massive fire took place at the privately-owned Kangleyuan Rest Home in Lushan county, Pingdingshan city started at 7:33 pm, the provincial publicity office said on Tuesday. There were 51 senior citizens at the time of the blaze which was put out one hour later.

The cause of the fire was not released till Tuesday evening although president Xi Jinping ordered a through probe into the incident, and asked local authorities to ensure that the injured are properly looked after.n

Relatives of some of the dead inmates identification of their family members was very difficult. "The bodies were so badly burned, we couldn't tell who was who," the official Xinhua news agency quoted one of the relatives as saying.

The rest home project which has a floor space area of 600 square meters had obtained safety clearance from local authorities in late 2010. Old age homes are being put up by private businesses to meet the rising requirements caused by a massively greying population in China. Senior citizens accounted for 15.5 percent of the population by 2014 end.

In his statement, president Xi asked health and safety departments across the country to "bear in mind safety management", check for hidden safety risks to avoid accidents.