Fire in China school dorm kills 13 students

A fire in a school dormitory in central China killed 13 students and injured another person, Chinese state media reported on Saturday.

The dead were third graders at an elementary school, according to China Newsweek, a weekly magazine published by China News Service, the second largest Chinese news agency after Xinhua. Third graders in China are usually 9 years old.

The fire broke out on Friday night at Yingcai School in Yanshanpu Village, near Nanyang City in Henan province, China Central Television Station and Xinhua News Agency said.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, and the head of the school was taken into custody, the reports said.

Yingcai is a private boarding school with a kindergarten and an elementary school, said The Paper, a Shanghai government-backed news outlet.

The school gives students a break every two weeks but this was not a break weekend, The Paper said, citing several local residents.

Many of Yingcai's students are from rural areas, it said, adding that the fire broke around 10 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Friday.