Fire damages 242 village houses, no casualties

A fire damaged 242 houses in a mountainous village in Zhouqu county, Gansu province, on Thursday, cri.cn reported on Friday.

No casualties were reported.

The village is located in the deep mountains, some 120 km from the county seat, and it took some time for firefighters to reach the village after the fire began around 2 pm. The fire was extinguished at 5:47 pm and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was later determined to be an electrical short circuit in a villager's house.

Some 160 firefighters, policemen and government officials stayed in the village to deal with the fire's aftermath.