THIRTY-EIGHT people were killed and six others injured in a fire at a home for senior citizens in Central China’s Henan Province on Monday night, local authorities said yesterday.

    The inferno at a row of detached buildings at the privately owned Kangleyuan Rest Home in Lushan County, Pingdingshan City, started at 7:33 p.m., according to a statement issued by the provincial publicity office yesterday morning.

    Two of the injured were in serious condition.

    The blaze swept through the complex, which was home to 51 senior citizens, before being put out at around 8:22 p.m.

    The search and rescue operation involving hundreds of rescuers ended yesterday morning.

    “I was in my bed at the time. Suddenly, I saw a worker with the retirement home run out of a room on fire shouting ‘Run! Run!’ to me, so I dashed out,” said 78-year-old Guo Xin.

    The 130-bed rest home divides its residents into three groups and houses them in separate sections: independent living, assisted living, and full-time care.

    The scorched units housed the third group.

    “They are bedridden or rely on crutches. They can’t even eat by themselves,” Guo said.

    Guo noted the “bad quality” of the burned dorms, which he said were “built with iron sheets and without foundations.”

    Resident Chen Runsheng complained that the rest home lacked caregivers. “You can’t find them at night,” said the 80-year-old man, who moved in two years ago.

    Relatives of some of the home’s residents said that it was very difficult to identify their bodies.

    The home’s legal representative is in police custody and all workers with the home are being held as the police conduct an investigation.

    Relatives of the elderly residents were told to take them home.

    The Ministry of Civil Affairs sent a team to Lushan yesterday to help deal with the aftermath and told subordinate agencies to conduct safety checks.

    President Xi Jinping ordered “all-out efforts” to treat the injured, comfort families of the dead and “properly handle” the aftermath of the fire. He demanded a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire.

    Premier Li Keqiang urged full efforts to rescue the victims and console their family members. He called for officials to draw lessons from the fire.

    China is facing a challenge caring for its rapidly aging population, which accounted for 15.5 percent of the total population by the end of 2014. This is expected to rise to 30 percent by 2050.

    Latest figures show China had some 32,000 registered homes for senior citizens as of the end of March. It has around 220,000 caregivers in rest homes, while 10 million are needed.

    (Xinhua)