At least seven people died after a fire broke out at a private nursing home in China on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. This is the latest deadly incident in the country that is struggling to improve its safety record.
According to Xinhua, the blaze broke out at 4:10 am (2010 GMT) at the nursing home in Chaoyang township in the northeastern province of Jilin. Immediately after the incident, the firefighters arrived at the scene and put out the fire within 17 minutes.
Nearly 32 people, who were living at the home, have been rescued by the firefighters. However, it is not clear how the seven people had died.
Another similar incident occurred in 2015 at a home for the elderly in Henan province that killed 38 people. The incident created a stir regarding China's growing population of old people and whether they were getting proper care.
President Xi Jinping had called on the authorities to take immediate steps to ensure accidents do not happen, but still the country continues to witness such incidents.
