At least 18 people were killed and 16 injured when a fire broke out at a martial arts school in central China in the early hours of Friday June 25.

Local media reported that most of the victims were boarding pupils aged between seven and 16.

The fire had been extinguished and authorities were investigating the cause of the blaze, the statement from Zhecheng county government said.

There were 34 boarding students on the premises when the fire broke out, according to local government staff quoted by Beijing Toutiao News.

The manager of the centre in rural Zhecheng county, Henan province, was arrested by police, the statement said.

The injured, four of whom had severe injuries, were rushed to a local hospital, where an unnamed doctor told local media they were “doing everything they could” to save them.