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12 staff of Chinese nursing home in custody following blaze that killed 38 residents

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Twelve staff of Chinese nursing home in custody following blaze that killed 38 residents


PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 27 May, 2015, 10:39am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 27 May, 2015, 2:48pm

Associated Press in Beijing

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Wu Zhongfeng, an elderly man injured in the fire, is treated in hospital. Photo: Xinhua

At least 12 people connected to the privately run home for the elderly in central China where 38 people died in a fire earlier this week have been taken into custody, state media reported on Wednesday.

Xinhua reported that the 12 included the legal representative of the Kangleyuan Rest Home, and that police were searching for another three employees.

The fire broke out on Monday night in the home, which housed 51 residents in Pingdingshan, Henan province, the province’s work safety administration said in a statement. In addition to the dozens who died, six people were injured, with two listed in serious condition, the statement said.

A photo of the fire scene released by Xinhua showed that many sections of the home appeared to have completely burned. The official state-run news agency said the cause of the fire was unclear.

“I was in my bed at the time. Suddenly, I saw a worker run out of a room that was on fire and he shouted ‘Run! Run!’ so I dashed out,” Guo Xin, 78, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Another survivor, Zhao Yulan, 82, said only two of the 11 residents in her ward survived, Xinhua reported. Some of the victims could not be identified, the news agency said.

The fire destroyed a part of the home housing people who were completely dependent on others for care. Xinhua quoted 80-year-old resident Chen Runsheng as saying not enough caregivers were working at the home.

Premier Li Keqiang called on officials across the country to “draw lessons from the accident, and check all potential safety hazards to avoid similar incidents,” Xinhua said. Fire officials were ordering inspections of nursing homes, kindergartens, child-care centres, hospitals and what Xinhua called “welfare houses” across the country.

With a rapidly ageing population and under-resourced social security net, China faces increasing pressure to provide safe and affordable care for the elderly. Xinhua cited figures showing a severe shortage of caregivers in the country, with 220,000 working in homes for the elderly, while 10 million are needed.

The tragedy “was a sore reminder” that facilities for the elderly were still substandard, Xinhua said in a commentary on the blaze. The shortage meant some people “have no other choice but to live in poorly equipped nursing facilities,” it said.

In 2013, a disgruntled resident set fire to a home for the elderly in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China, killing himself and 10 others.

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Relatives visit a survivor of the blaze at a hospital in Pingdingshan, Henan province. Photo: Xinhua


 
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