Thirteen children died when a fire swept through a home for mentally disabled children in the capital of Tajikistan Dushanbe on early Sunday. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    ALMA ATA, Jan. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Thirteen children died when a fire swept through a home for mentally disabled children in the capital of Tajikistan Dushanbe on early Sunday, said a government official.

    The other 100 children or so living in the home were evacuated, said First Deputy Labor and Public Protection Minister Makhmud Kasimov.

    Two children were hospitalized with smoke inhalation, he said.

    Sixty children were hospitalized with burns or smoke inhalation, the Interfax news agency said, citing a national fire department official.

    The fire broke out shortly after midnight in the home, which was constructed in 1934. The single-story wooden building was almost totally demolished by the blaze, Kasimov said.

    The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. Enditem