May 26, 2015
BEIJING — A rest home fire in central China killed 38 people and injured six, Chinese state media reported Tuesday.
The official Xinhua News Agency said that the Monday night fire swept through an apartment building being used as a privately run rest home in the city of Pingdingshan in Henan province.
Xinhua said two of the injured were in serious condition, and a rescue operation was underway Tuesday morning. The cause of the fire was unclear.
With a rapidly aging population and under-resourced social security net, China faces increasing pressure to provide safe and affordable care for the elderly.
In 2013, a disgruntled resident set fire to a rest home, killing himself and 10 others, in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
