Zhecheng County fire: 18 dead in horror blaze at Chinese martial arts centre
CHINESE authorities shared 18 people were killed in a blaze on Friday.
A fire broke out at a martial arts centre in Zhecheng County in Shangqiu City, central China's Henan Province. A total of 18 people were killed and 16 were left injured by the blaze.
Chinese media reported most of the fire victims were boarding pupils aged between seven and 16 years old
The fire has been extinguished, and authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze, according to a statement from the Zhecheng county government.
There were 34 boarding students on the premises when the fire broke out, local government staff told Beijing Toutiao News.
The wounded - four of whom had severe injuries - were rushed to a local hospital.
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The manager of the centre in Henan province has been arrested by police, the statement said.
An unnamed doctor told local media they were "doing everything they could" to save them.
Provincial party chief Lou Yangsheng also stated the tragedy was a "profound lesson" which all cities and counties in Henan should learn from to eliminate future risks.
Social media users started to call for better fire safety standards online as a hashtag for the fire quickly garnered over 1.5 million views.
Outbreaks of fire in China are not uncommon, with patchy safety protocols and sub-standard construction a frequent concern.
Earlier in June, a gas pipeline explosion in central Hubei province killed 25 people and injured 138.
More than two dozen people were killed in two blazes in Beijing's migrant neighbourhoods in 2017.
The first fire, which killed 19 people in November that year, prompted authorities to begin tearing down unsafe buildings in the capital, driving hundreds of thousands of residents out in the middle of winter.
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