BEIJING - Seven children died and another was injured in a fire at a private orphanage in central China on Friday, the local government and state media said. Flames swept through the home for orphans and abandoned children in Lankao, Henan province, for around two hours before they were put out, the Xinhua news agency reported. Four children died at the scene and three on their way to hospital, it said. One child, aged about 10, was injured and hospitalised, a spokesman for the local government, who declined to be named, told AFP. He was not aware of the dead children’s ages. “The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” the spokesman said, adding it was unclear how many people were inside the facility when the fire broke out.