Twenty people were killed after a fire broke out at a nursing home in north China's Hebei province, local officials said on Wednesday. The blaze broke out around 9 pm on Tuesday in Longhua County, Chengde city. The remaining people from the nursing home have been shifted to a nearby hospital for further observation and treatment, Xinhua adds. While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, police have detained the person in charge of the nursing home.
Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post in its report quoting Jimu News said that the 300-bed Guoen Senior Home had 260 elderly residents at the time of the blaze, based on public records. Among the elderly residents, 98 were with total disability while 84 are described as semi-disabled. According to the records, the remaining 78 residents were capable of self-care.
According to the licensing record, its business scope was “providing accommodation, food, and daycare for the elderly and disabled”.
Earlier in October, more than 50 officials faced punitive actions after they were found to be responsible for a January 2024 fire which claimed 39 lives and left another nine severely injured at a building complex in Xinyu city in the southeast province of Jiangxi.
Investigations showed that the fire was caused by the illegal construction of a cold storage facility in the basement of the building complex, resulting in casualties and a direct economic loss of more than 43.52 million yuan (USD 5.9 million), the Post report said.
(With inputs from AP)
