Fire at China nursing home kills seven

[BEIJING] A fire at a private nursing home in China killed seven people on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, the latest deadly incident in a country struggling to improve its safety record.

The blaze broke out at 4.10am (2010 GMT) at the nursing home in Chaoyang township in the northeastern province of Jilin, and was put out 17 minutes later, the news agency reported.

It not clear how the seven people had died.

Firefighters rescued the other 32 people living at the home, Xinhua reported.

In 2015, a fire at an home for the elderly in Henan province killed 38 people, stirring debate about whether China's growing population of old people are getting proper care.

The fire at that time prompted President Xi Jinping to call on authorities to take immediate steps to ensure accidents do not happen.

REUTERS