At least 20 people have been killed in a fire at a nursing home in northern China, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. The news agency didn't reveal what caused the fire.  

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The Work Safety Committee of China State Council on Wednesday released a statement, announcing that it will oversee an investigation into the nursing home fire. 

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In a statement, the committee called on the province to promptly investigate and find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible.

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The state news agency reported that a total of 39 elderly residents were residing in the building. As per the report, the blaze broke out around 9:00 pm (local time) on Tuesday in the city of Chengde, in Hebei province, which is roughly 180 kilometres (112 miles) from the Chinese capital, Beijing. 

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The remaining people from the nursing home have been transferred to a nearby hospital for further observation and treatment, the agency reported. It didn't say how many people were there.

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"Other elderly people in the nursing home have been transferred to nearby hospitals for further observation and treatment," the state news agency said.

The person in charge of the nursing home has been detained by police, the report said. 

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(With inputs from agencies)