Nursing home fire kills 20 in north China: report

• Fire broke out at 9pm on Tuesday at nursing home.
• 20 deaths were confirmed in early hours of Wednesday.
• Others were transferred to nearby hospitals for treatment.
  

At least 20 people have been killed in a fire at a nursing home in northern China, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday without providing further details.

The fire broke out around 9:00pm Tuesday at the nursing home in Longhua County, roughly 180 kilometres northeast of the Chinese capital, Beijing, Xinhua said.

As of 3:00am Wednesday, it added, 20 people were confirmed dead.

"Other elderly people in the nursing home have been transferred to nearby hospitals for further observation and treatment," the Chinese news agency said.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, it said.

Deadly fires are relatively common in China due to lax building codes and an often slipshod approach to workplace safety.

In January, a fire at a vegetable market in Zhangjiakou city, northwest of Beijing, killed eight people and injured 15.

A month before that, nine people died in a fire at a construction site in eastern China's Rongcheng city.