13 tots die in playschool blaze
Thirteen children, the oldest just four years old, have died in a fire at a kindergarten dormitory in China.
The blaze in Nanchang, capital of the southern province of Jiangxi, apparently started when a burning coil of mosquito repellent set fire to bedding.
Such coils, whose smoke drives away insects, are widely used throughout China.
The dead included seven boys and six girls from the Jiangxi Radio and Television Arts Kindergarten, all aged between three and four.
There was no indication why children so young were staying in a school dormitory. A man who answered the phone at the Nanchang fire department said he could not give out information without official clearance.
Most victims died of smoke inhalation, the Xinhua Government news agency said. It said one boy ran to safety and three others were carried out by rescuers.
Jiangxi was the scene of one of China’s worst school disasters when an explosion on March 6 levelled a school house in the village of Fang Lin, killing 42 teachers and students.
The Government blamed the explosion on a deranged bomber, but parents said the students had been forced to make fireworks by school administrators.
