Accidents In China: Fire In Central China Kills 38, Injures 6, Cause Unclear

A fire at a rest home in central China killed has 38 people and injured six others, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. The fire broke out just before 8 p.m. local time Monday in Henan Province.

Two of the injured were in serious condition and were taken to the hospital, Xinhua said. It was not clear what started the fire at the home, named Kangleyuan, in the city of Pingdingshan, according to the Henan Provincial Work Safety Administration.

In mid-April, a fire broke out in a factory in a city in Fujian, a province in eastern China. Nearly 30,000 people were evacuated, and the fire blazed for more than two days.

In 2009, a gas explosion in a Pingdingshan coal mine killed 67 people and left nine missing. The accident occurred just days after a Chinese leader declared that coalmine safety was a government priority; the mine where the explosion occurred turned out to be unlicensed and operating illegally, as it was technically under repair.