Mass grave after Tanzania fire

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Twelve schoolgirls who died in a fire at a school in Tanzania will be buried in a mass grave because their bodies cannot be identified, officials say.

The education department said the girls would be buried on Tuesday on the school grounds in Idodi, 460km (285 miles) west of Dar es Salaam.

President Jakaya Kikwete is expected to attend the burial.

The fire was apparently started by a candle left burning in a dormitory on Saturday night.

The candle is thought to have set light to a mosquito net and the flames spread through the dormitory.

"It burnt one dormitory completely and 12 students were killed. Another 20 have been injured," local police commander Evarist Mangala told Reuters news agency.

"It looks like it was from a candle lit by a student who was trying to study at night."

Officials said the school - named as the Idodi Secondary School - has no electricity overnight and pupils often use candles to help them study.

Scores of schoolchildren have died in similar incidents in neighbouring Kenya and Uganda in recent years.