IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Blaze orphanage owner defends self

A woman whose unlicensed orphanage in Central China's Henan province caught fire, claiming seven young lives, said she has a "clear conscience" and will not abandon her work, Xinhua News Agency reported. "Dozens of children would have died if I had not taken them in," Yuan Lihai, 48, said at a hospital ward in Lankao county, Henan province.

Yuan, who has a history of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, complained of breathing difficulties late Saturday night and was sent to the hospital. Before she fell ill, local authorities had held her in isolation in a hotel room for questioning, said the report. A fire broke out in Yuan's two-story home on Friday morning when she was taking several of her older "adoptees" to school. Seven people, including six children and one 20-year-old man, died in the fire. The children were left at home unattended when the fire broke out, it added.