Top: The scene at Yuan Lihai's orphanage after the fire. Above: An infant with Down's Syndrome is one of 10 children who have now settled down at Kaifeng Welfare Home.?[Photo / China Daily ]

Six government officials in a county in central Henan province have been suspended while authorities are probing an orphanage fire that claimed the lives of seven children, China Central Television reported today.

They include the director of Lankao County Civil Affair Bureau and three Chengguan Town government officials, the CCTV reported.

The blaze occurred on January 4 and soon engulfed the shabby house that served as a family-run foster home, killing six children and one adult.

The report said the foster home was run by Yuan Lihai, who adopted more than 100 abandoned children in the past 27 years and her orphanage had no license. The local civil affairs bureau turned a blind eye to her operation because the county was too poor to build a welfare center.

Investigation into the cause of the fire is still under way.