14 dead in building fire in India’s Lucknow

Officials reported at least 14 people died Monday in a fire at a facility in Lucknow, India, that houses a library and a tutoring center for college students.

The fire in Lucknow, the capital of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, started from the middle floor of a three-storey commercial structure in a residential area and quickly spread to other floors.

Fourteen children from happy families were killed in the event, the state’s deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak told reporters, adding that four others were injured in the conflagration.

It was not immediately clear whether all the dead were students.

Many pupils escaped the flames by jumping from the upper floor of the building into the street below, witnesses told an AFP reporter.

Indian television showed photos of flames roaring out of the front facade of the building as firefighters battled to douse the fire.

The facility contained a coaching centre for college students, a library and a computer graphics area.

In India, numerous building fires are the result of lack of firefighting equipment and routine disrespect for safety laws.

Poorly maintained wiring and electrical short circuits are still the top causes of fire occurrences in India.

Pathak said stern punishment will be taken against those found guilty.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “anguished by the loss of lives”, and in a social media post his office announced more than $2,100 in relief money for each family.

It was not immediately clear what caused the latest incident, which occurred around two weeks after a fire at a hotel killed 21 people in New Delhi.

In March, 10 critically ill patients were killed in a fire at a government hospital in eastern India.

In 2019, 43 manufacturing workers sleeping in a building in the old quarter of Delhi died in a fire.