Fire kills 38 partygoers in Madagascar

A house fire during a party in Madagascar has killed 38 people, including 16 children, as the blaze ripped through a thatched roof. The victims – the youngest only six months old – were trapped inside the house in the village of Ambalavato, in the rural centre of the island, when the fire broke out on July 23. The partygoers, including the home owner’s wife and seven of his children, were celebrating the renovation of the house. The owner himself was away at the time. The blaze is believed to have started from embers of a fire that had been used earlier to cook food for guests.