Officials in Hubei province confirmed that seven orphans died in a child welfare institution this winter but denied a rumor that they froze to death or were physically abused by the institution's nursing staff.

Wei Guoxiang, from Hubei's Civil Affairs Department, told China Daily that he learned that the children from a welfare home in Shiyan died from various diseases.

"Most children in child welfare homes were abandoned by their parents due to severe diseases or birth defects, so some of them were in critical condition when they were sent to a welfare institution," he said.