At Least 75 Children Killed in Tamil Nadu Fire

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[sPECIAL NOTICE: We ask that ALL members of the Shakti Sadhana

community take a moment today and offer their prayers for the souls

and families of the children who died in the Tamil Nadu fire today.

We will, of course, keep you informed of any funds that may be set

up, or any other concrete help tht you can offer as such information

becomes available. Thank you -- The SHAKTI SADHANA Moderators.]

 

MUMBAI, India, July 16th — More than 75 young school children were

killed when a rampaging fire engulfed a private school in southern

India this morning, Indian media reported. The children attending

the school in the state of Tamil Nadu were reported to be from 6 to

13 years old.

 

More than 30 of the children were burned to death and the rest died

in a stampede, M.B. Venkatesh, a witness who lived near the Lord

Krishna Middle School in the town of Kumbakonam told The Associated

Press. There were also unconfirmed reports that no teachers or fire

extinguishers were present in the building and one of its main exits

was locked.

 

"Parents were crying, beating their chests and calling out for their

children," S. Kalidas, one witness, told Reuters. "People looked

scared. They were running around for help and there was complete

panic. It was a huge fire."

 

More than 800 students were believed to be in the school when the

fire began in a kitchen, according to Indian media reports. A short-

circuit is believed to have ignited the kitchens thatched roof.

Flames then spread to a portion of the main three-story school

building that also had a thatched roof.

 

Images of firefighters trying to put out the fire as hundreds of

panicked parents surrounding the building were broadcast on Indian

television news channels. Some of the children's bodies were so

badly burned that they could not be identified.

 

"They have been charred beyond recognition so we cannot say how many

girls and how many boys," J. Radhakrishnan, chief administrator of

the district, told The A.P.

 

Government officials called for an immediate investigation into the

fire. The blaze was the worst school fire in India since 1995, when

400 people, half of them children, died at a school ceremony in the

northern part of the country.

 

Today's tragedy could spark a crackdown on the thousands of private

schools that have opened across India as government spending on

education has declined. The schools, which offer poor families the

promise of an education that will lift their children out of

destitution, are poorly regulated.

 

Hospital officials said they expect the death toll to rise. As many

as 30 school children arrived at a local hospital with severe burns.

Over the next several days, they are expected to slowly perish from

their injuries.

 

Source: The New York Times, "At Least 75 Children Die in Fire at

School in India," By DAVID ROHDE. Published: July 16, 2004

 

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/international/asia/16CND-

INDI.html