Fire in northern China nursing home kills 20

At least 20 people have died in a fire at a nursing home in northern China´s Hebei province, Beijing's news agency Xinhua said Wednesday.

According to the Chinese news agency, the fire broke out around 9:00pm Tuesday at the nursing home in Longhua County, roughly 180 kilometres northeast of the Chinese capital, Beijing.

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.