A fire in Hefei, Anhui province, on Sunday left one dead and 11 injured as of Monday's count, according to local authorities and media reports.
Multiple videos taken by witnesses show that some people were get out of the windows of a burning three-story building in Cuozhen township of Hefei's Feidong county.
A report by cri.cn on Monday cited local education authorities saying the victims were mostly students from a trusteeship center, which provided space for students to go after school to finish their homework.
Witnesses and survivors said the students, mostly young pupils, were in classrooms on the third floor. They had to jump to the second floor and then to the ground, according to the report.
The county's fire department said in a statement that the fire started in a utility room in a corridor on the ground floor.
As of Monday evening, local police officers had launched an investigation and were holding the owner of the building and people suspected of being responsible for the fire.