Thirty-eight people have died and six others were injured after a fire erupted at a privately owned old age home in China's central Henan province on Monday. The blaze swept through one of the buildings of the nursing home in the city of Pingdingshan, Reuters reported.
The fire was extinguished after nearly an hour, however the flames continued to burn in some parts of the building for six additional hours. Even though the fire is likely to have been caused by an electrical problem, officials are still trying to determine the cause of the fire and have not released any statements, according to the New York Times.
Out of the six wounded in the fire, two were hospitalized in critical condition. Search and rescue operations are still underway, and it was still unclear as to what caused the fire at the nursing home named Kangleyuan, according to the Henan Provincial Work Safety Administration, Xinhua reported.
The Kangleyuan nursing home houses over 100 residents, including about 57 people who have difficulty moving around on their own.
Fires and industrial accidents are fairly common in the country. This is because of poor fire and safety standards, which are not imposed strictly, with some property and business owners bribing corrupt state officials in order to keep them quiet.
A fire at a retirement home located in the northeastern part of China claimed 11 lives in 2013. Authorities traced the cause of the fire to an act of arson carried out by one of the residents who perished in the blaze, according to Sky News.
