Orphanage blaze raises questions

Ten children are in government custody following a fatal fire that killed six children and an adult and destroyed the children's home, an unregistered orphanage, in Lankao county, Central China's Henan province. The children had been living with a woman named Yuan Lihai, who is believed to have been operating the unregistered orphanage out of her home since 1986, using money earned from working as a street vendor to provide for them.

Seven die as fire sweeps orphanage

Six children and an adult died in a fire that broke out on Friday in a privately run orphanage in Central China's Henan province.

The blaze engulfed the house in Lankao, where Yuan Lihai, 48, a local villager, looked after abandoned children she had taken in over the years.

Four children died at the scene, while the other three victims died on their way to a hospital. One of the victims was a man in his 20s with infantile paralysis, an acute, viral infectious disease. The other six — four boys and two girls — were all under 6 years old, with the youngest only 6 months, the Lankao publicity department said in a statement. >>

Orphans in govt custody after C China fire

Ten children are in government custody following a fatal fire that destroyed the children's home, an unregistered orphanage, in Central China's Henan province on Friday.

The civil affairs bureau of Lankao county said the children had been living with a woman named Yuan Lihai, who is believed to have been operating an unregistered orphanage out of her home.

Bureau official Li Meijiao said two of the children are in the care of the child welfare agency of the city of Kaifeng, while the other eight children have been given shelter at a county rescue center. >>

China to overhaul non-govt orphanages after fire

A month-long nationwide inspection of orphanages run by individuals and private operators will be carried out after a house fire in central China claimed seven lives.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday urged departments across the country to improve management of such orphanages, learning lessons from the fire at Yuan Lihai's house that happened on Friday.

It is believed Yuan was operating an unregistered orphanage out of her home in Lankao county of Central China's Henan province.

A ministry statement said civil affairs departments should send out officials and mobilize communities and villages to collect information on the conditions of non-government orphanages. >>

Orphanage blaze raises questions

Yuan Lihai's name is well known to the local media, which have often reported on her acts of kindness. During the past two decades and more, Yuan has played the role of surrogate mother to almost 100 abandoned infants and children, leading some locals to nickname her "Loving Mother". Many of the children she rescued over the years are now adults with families of their own.

However, this time Yuan's name is in the media spotlight for the wrong reasons. Many local people have expressed sympathy and applauded her example. However, others have spoken of their misgivings about Yuan's "adoptions", muttering darkly that she used the house and the children to make money. Some have even accused her of selling abandoned children for profit. >>

Q and A on orphanage owner

How do friends see Yuan Lihai?

"Without her (Yuan Lihai), it would be impossible for these kids to be alive today. They would have died a long time ago," said a friend of Yuan.

How do children see Yuan Lihai?

"Mom (Yuan) is the greatest mother in the world," said 20-year-old Yuan Song who was adopted by Yuan Lihai as a little kid after being abandoned by his family due to cerebral palsy.  >>

 Orphanage owner hospitalized

The owner of an illegal orphanage in Central China was sent to hospital over the weekend suffering a heart attack after she was questioned by police about a fire that killed six children and a young adult.

Yuan Lihai, the operator of the orphanage in Lankao county, Henan province, had been living with 18 adopted children, the local government said.

When the blaze broke out on Friday, only eight of the children were in the house. Yuan had taken the older ones to school or left them in the care of other people, Wu Changsheng, deputy chief of the county, said at a news conference on Saturday. The unhurt children have been sent to a welfare home in Kaifeng, which administers Lankao. >>

6 officials suspended after orphanage deaths

Six officials have been suspended from their posts after a fire in an unlicensed orphanage killed seven people in Central China's Henan province, local authorities said Tuesday.

The government of Lankao county has suspended the county's top civil affairs official Yang Peimin and five other officials for further investigation, sources with the county's publicity department said.

Seven people, including six children and one 20-year-old man, died Friday morning in the fire at the unregistered orphanage, owned by local resident Yuan Lihai. >>

Playing with fire causes China orphanage blaze

Friday's orphanage blaze which left seven dead in central China's Henan Province was caused by children playing with fire, investigators said on Tuesday.

An investigation team consisting of police and fire fighting experts confirmed the cause after a spot inspection, simulated tests and inquiries, said the publicity department of the Kaifeng City Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Seven people, including six children and one 20-year-old man, died on Friday morning in the fire at the unregistered orphanage, which was owned by local resident Yuan Lihai in Lankao County, Kaifeng City. >>

The Lankao fire is not an isolated incident. It has rung alarm bells for other grassroots orphanages.

Without a functioning child welfare system, tragedies are likely to happen in other places too. The tragedy is partly a result of China's child welfare system.