BEIJING: A fire has caused the death of 13 students housed at a school dormitory in central China. The incident took place at Yingcai School in Henan province’s Yanshanpu village. The deceased children are aged nine and ten. It is reported that the local fire officer received information about the fire in the school dormitory around 11 pm on Friday. The fire brigade and security personnel reached the spot immediately and extinguished the fire completely by 11.38. The local administration has started an investigation into the incident.The school manager has been taken into custody by the police.

There were 30 children in the dormitory when the fire broke out. The rescuers were able to get all the remaining children out safely. No further information about the dead children or the cause of the fire has yet been officially released. Yingcai is an institution with a kindergarten and an elementary school. As it was the end of the week, the nursery students had gone home. A teacher at the school told the media that the dead children were third graders.