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India tuition class fire kills at least 19 students India tuition centre fire kills 20 in Gujarat state
(about 7 hours later)
At least 19 students have died in a fire at a school in India, officials said. At least 20 people, most of them students attending private tuition classes, have died in a fire in India, officials said.
Students were seen jumping and falling from the building in the western city of Surat as black smoke billowed from windows. Students were seen jumping and falling from the commercial building in the western city of Surat as black smoke billowed from windows.
Most of the victims were teenagers who had been studying at a tuition centre. The fire is believed to have been started by an electrical fault in the air conditioning, officials said.
The initial cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Officials said the blaze spread through packed classrooms because of flammable roofing. Police said one of the owners of the tuition centre had been arrested.
At least 20 others sustained serious injuries and were being treated in hospital in Gujarat. Surat police chief Satish Sharma told reporters that three people in total had been charged with culpable homicide and that the two others would be arrested soon. As anger mounted in the local community, he appealed to people to remain calm and to not take the law into their own hands.
At least 20 other people suffered serious injuries in the fire and were being treated in hospital in Gujarat.
"The students lost their life both because of the fire and jumping out of the building," Deepak Sapthaley, a local fire official, told AFP."The students lost their life both because of the fire and jumping out of the building," Deepak Sapthaley, a local fire official, told AFP.
All of the dead were aged below 20 years and many were trapped because the fire began near the staircase, Reuters reported. Surat's fire and emergency services commissioner U Upadhyay said: "The fire was caused by a short-circuit in one of the air-conditioning ducts on the ground floor... and spread to the third floor."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences on Twitter and called for local authorities to provide assistance. All of the dead were aged below 20 years and many were trapped because the fire began near a staircase, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences on Twitter.
An inquiry into the incident has been ordered and a report is expected within three days, said the spokesman for the office of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.An inquiry into the incident has been ordered and a report is expected within three days, said the spokesman for the office of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
The fire is the latest in a long line of deadly blazes in India. In February at least 17 people died in a Delhi hotel fire.The fire is the latest in a long line of deadly blazes in India. In February at least 17 people died in a Delhi hotel fire.