At least 10 people were killed when a fire broke out today at a nursing home for the elderly in northeast China.
The blaze ripped through the facility in the early hours at the in-patient building of the Lianhe Senior Nursing Home in Hailun city of Heilongjiang province, local government said.
As many as 32 people were in the in-patient building, which covers an area of 300 sq.m., at the time of the fire, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
About 283 elderly people live in the nursing home built in October 2005. The nursing home caters for the rural elderly in the city who have no source of income, it added.
After the incident, the area around the nursing home has been cordoned off. Unconfirmed reports said the fire was caused by arson.