At least 20 individuals have perished in a fire that engulfed a nursing home in northern China, according to a report by the Chinese news agency Xinhua on Wednesday, though further details were not immediately provided.
Xinhua stated that the fire erupted at approximately 9:00 pm on Tuesday at the nursing home located in Longhua County, situated roughly 180 kilometers northeast of Beijing, the Chinese capital.
As of 3:00 am on Wednesday, the news agency added, the death toll had been confirmed at 20.
“Other elderly residents of the nursing home have been transferred to nearby hospitals for further observation and treatment,” the Chinese news agency reported.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, it said.
Deadly fires are relatively frequent in China due to lenient building regulations and a often careless approach to safety in workplaces.
In January, a fire at a vegetable market in Zhangjiakou city, northwest of Beijing, resulted in the deaths of eight people and injuries to 15 others.
A month prior to that incident, nine people died in a fire at a construction site in Rongcheng city, located in eastern China.
