17 girls dead in fire at school dormitory in Thailand

BANGKOK (AFP) – Seventeen young girls died after a fire swept through the dormitory of a school for children of hill tribes in northern Thailand, officials said Monday, adding several others were injured in the blaze.

The fire started late at night, meaning many of the children at the charity-run Christian school were asleep and unable to escape as flames engulfed the two-storey building.

“The fire broke out at 11p.m. on Sunday (1600 GMT). Seventeen girls were killed, with five injured,’’ Colonel Prayad Singsin of the police in Chiang Rai told AFP.

Two of the injured are in a serious condition, he said, but added that initial fears that two more girls were missing had been discounted after rescuers picked through the charred debris.

“The fire is out, but the cause of the blaze is still under investigation,’’ Prayad said, adding forensic officers were due to arrive.

A Chiang Rai provincial official confirmed the death toll, adding that the privately-run school is home to girls aged between six and 13 years old.

Those in the dormitory on Sunday night were drawn mainly from the deprived local hill tribes who live too far away to travel to the school.

“There were 38 students inside the dormitory when the fire broke out. Some were not yet asleep so they escaped,’’ the province’s deputy governor, Arkom Sukapan, told AFP.