State Council to oversee probe into university fire in central China

he Work Safety Committee of China's State Council on Sunday announced that it will oversee the investigation into a university fire in central China's Henan Province.

The fire occurred on Thursday night at a nearly century-old auditorium which had been undergoing renovation work in the Minglun campus of Henan University in the city of Kaifeng. The fire was later extinguished with no injuries, according to a statement by the university.

The committee said it will dispatch a team to supervise and guide the local investigation work. It urged efforts to carry out scientific and rigorous investigation to determine the cause of the fire, as well as to seek accountability in accordance with the laws and regulations.

The Henan Provincial Fire Safety Commission said on Friday that the fire had damaged part of the building's roof and caused it to collapse.

Established in 1934, the grand auditorium was designated as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 2006 and is considered an incredible work of modern architecture in China.