At least 13 children killed after fire rips through boarding school | Asia News

A devastating fire at a boarding school has killed at least 13 children.

The inferno broke out in a dormitory and ripped through the building in China on Friday night.

All of the victims at the Yingcai School in central Henan province were pupils in the third grade, a teacher confirmed.

Third graders in China are normally nine years old.

One person was rescued from the blaze and has been taken to hospital for treatment, according to China’s state broadcaster.

The flames were brought under control shortly before midnight local time at the school in Yanshanpu Village, near Nanyang City, in the rural Fangcheng district.

Pictures showed badly charred windows on one floor of the building.

Police have arrested the school’s headteacher and local authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.

The boarding school caters primarily to pupils in the elementary grades, though it has an attached kindergarten, according to the school’s WeChat page.

Many of the boarding pupils come from rural areas.

The facility is in Dushu township and is one of the school’s two branches.

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