A fire in a school dormitory in central China killed 13 students and injured another person, Chinese state media has reported.
The students who died were third graders at an elementary school, according to China Newsweek, a weekly magazine published by China News Service, the second largest Chinese news agency after Xinhua.
Third graders in China are usually nine-years-old.
Xinhua reported that the injured person “is currently receiving treatment at the hospital and is in stable condition”.
The fire broke out last night at Yingcai School in Yanshanpu Village, near Nanyang City in Henan province, China Central Television Station and Xinhua News Agency said.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, and the head of the school was taken into custody, the reports said.
Yanshanpu village lies on the outskirts of Nanyang, a city of nearly ten million.
Yingcai is a private boarding school with a kindergarten and an elementary school, said The Paper, a Shanghai government-backed news outlet.
The school gives students a break every two weeks but this was not a break weekend, The Paper said, citing several local residents.
Many of Yingcai’s students are from rural areas, it said, adding that the fire broke around 10pm local time yesterday.
