At least 20 people, mostly students, were killed after a massive fire broke out at a coaching centre in Gujarat’s Surat on Friday afternoon. Videos posted by witnesses on social media showed several students jumping out of windows on the top floor of the four-storey building to escape the blaze.
Most of the students are said to be between the ages of 14 and 17. “The fire started near the staircase, so they could not get down,” Joint Commissioner of Police Harikrishna Patel said
Disturbing visuals showed people on the pavement asking the students to jump off the burning building, hoping to catch them. Among those seen falling was a young child. “Some of these students are critical but the crowd managed to save their lives,” Darshana Jardosh, the parliamentarian from Surat, told us.
The fire, which broke out at around 3:30 pm, engulfed the top two floors of the commercial building called Takshashila Arcade in the Sarthana area of Surat, officials said. About 50 or 60 people were inside when the fire broke out, covering the area in huge plumes of smoke.
The fire was likely caused due to an electrical short circuit, Mr Patel said. A video showed an electrical box of high-voltage cables outside the building on fire. An FIR (First Information Report) has been filed against the owner of the building, the person who conducted the class and the man who constructed the building. They are on the run.
