80 children killed in India school fire
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-16 17:01

Nearly 80 children were killed in a fire that tore through a primary school in India's southern Tamil Nadu state and the death toll is expected to rise, police said.

"Seventy-seven bodies (of children) have been recovered," senior police official S. Natarajani told AFP from the temple town of Kumbhakonam where the blaze started at around 11:00 am (0530 GMT) on Friday.

"Thirty-four have been admitted to the local government hospital," he said.

"The death toll is likely to go up as some of those admitted are in a critical condition," he said.

The pupils of the Krishna Primary School were aged between six and 13, officials at the site of the fire said.

Weeping parents rushed to the school building to look for their children as bodies were being removed. Others crowded the government hospital about 350 kilometres (220 miles) from Madras.

A preliminary inquiry showed the "fire was caused by an open firewood stove in the kitchen of the school where the midday meal for the children was being cooked," Natarajani said.

It spread from the kitchen to the adjacent thatched portion of school and from there to a one-storey building where most of the 350 children were in class, Natarajani said.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
Analysts claim soft landing for China's economy         China bans selective abortion to fix imbalance         Beijing man sues Nike over copyright         China backs UN Security Council expansion         Teflon-coated pans barred from shelves         China Netcom to apply for US$1.5b IPO in US	Iraq PM announces formation of spy agency       Spain: Europe's biggest terrorist threat is Morocco       Blair loses one seat, nearly two, as Iraq bites       Philippines begins Iraq pullout to save hostage       Headless corpse in orange jumpsuit found in Iraq       US House votes to block aid for Saudi Arabia