Hostel fire kills 10 children in Arunachal Pradesh
February 11, 2010 16:27 IST
At least 10 school children were burnt to death and several seriously injured in a fire that gutted a private hostel located near a school at remote Palin in Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal Pradesh, about 180 km from state capital Itanagar, on Wednesday night.
An official in Itanagar informed on Thursday that the fire broke out in a hostel where over 60 children studying in the nearby Don Bosco School stayed, at around 9 pm on Wednesday. The private hostel, made of thatched bamboo, was run by a widow residing in the area.
Senior police officials from the district headquarter at Koloriang rushed to the incident site on Thursday morning on hearing the shocking news. It takes over four hours to reach Palin from Koloring via the hilly road. Telephone connection between Palin and Koloriang has not been operational for the last three days, a official said.
Nine of the children, who died in the incident, were identified while one was charred beyond recognition.
The seriously injured children were being shifted to a hospital in Itanagar. It takes about eight hours to reach Itanagar from Palin by road. Three girls were among the 10 dead.
The hostel housed children from kindergarten to class eight. Though Don Bosco School at Palin has its own hostel, there are also some private hostels in the Circle headquarter.
K Anuragn in Guwahati
