RANCHI: A massive fire broke out in the hostel of Government Girl's Residential School located under Bariatu Block in Latehar on Monday morning. The fire was so fierce that all the beds and other articles of day-to-day life kept in Hall No. 5 of the hostel were completely burnt to ashes.
All 240 girl students, studying in the school, are safe. Rather, without any help from the district administration, they doused the fire with the help of the school staff.
“It is due to their effort that the fire could not spread further, otherwise it would have engulfed the entire school,” said a local Rajeev Kumar. They fetched water from the nearby handpump and doused the fire by pouring water on it, he added.
After getting the information, District Education Officer Prince Kumar rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. Prima facie, the fire reportedly broke out due to short circuit, but the matter is being investigated taking all aspects into consideration. All girls are safe as no one has been hurt in the incident, he added.
Kumar further added that the teachers and other staff of the school are also completely safe. The beds kept in the hostel and other items kept in the room have been damaged, he said.
Meanwhile, alternate arrangements are being made for the stay of the girl students.
According to the students, the smoke was seen coming out of the hostel when all they were out to the ground to attend PT classes. Before people could understand anything, the smoke turned into flames within minutes and engulfed a room in Hall No. 5 of the hostel, where the beds of the girl students were kept.
“All the beds in the room were completely burnt. However, on getting information about the incident, some local people also reached there and tried to control the fire at their own level. But the fire was so fierce that everything was burnt to ashes,” said a student requesting anonymity.
Thank God that they had come out of the hostel for PT; had the incident taken place an hour before, there could have been a big loss of life too, she added.
The school is currently running in a very old building and the new building of the school is under construction for the last 5 years; there is a huge shortage of space in the hostel. Also, the electric wires have become very old.