Most of the victims of the fire were children living in the facility in Henan Province.

On Friday, a fire broke out in a Chinese martial arts training center, killing 18 people, most of whom were children.

The government of Zhecheng County in Henan Province stated on its website that the fire broke out at 3 am (19:00 GMT Thursday) and was later extinguished.

The county government stated that it is still unclear what caused the fire. The fire also injured 16 people, 4 of whom were in serious condition.

The police detained the head of the center. It did not determine the identity of the person or the training organization.

The Beijing Youth Daily stated in a report that most of the casualties were students between the ages of 7 and 16 living on the second floor of the center, but the report was later deleted from the newspaper’s website.

In the worst fire in China, 309 people died in a nightclub in Luoyang City, Henan Province on Christmas Day 2000. Most victims suffocated in the smoky dance hall, where there were only two emergency exits and no sprinklers or smoke alarms.