AT LEAST 15 people, most of them students, were killed after a fire broke out at a building housing an animation training centre, library and coaching centre in Lucknow, northern India, on Monday, authorities said.
The fire started on the middle floor of the three-storey commercial building in the Aliganj area of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, and spread to other levels.
Police said about 21 students were present when the fire broke out. Two were seriously injured and four others were in a stable condition.
News footage showed men in uniform carrying bodies from the building as crowds gathered outside. Indian television also showed flames coming out from the front of the building as firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control.
The building housed a coaching centre for college students, a library and a computer graphics section. The animation training centre trained students to create animations, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak told reporters.
"Fourteen children from happy families were killed in the incident," Pathak told reporters, adding four others were injured in the blaze.
It was not immediately clear whether all those who died were students.
Witnesses told an AFP reporter that several students jumped from the upper floor of the building onto the street below to escape the flames.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and authorities said an investigation was under way.
"Stern action will be taken against those found responsible," Pathak said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "anguished by the loss of lives" and announced more than $2,100 in relief money for each affected family, his office said in a social media post.
The fire came about two weeks after a blaze at a hotel in New Delhi killed 21 people, including around a dozen foreign nationals, raising concerns over fire safety norms in the capital.
In March, a fire at a government-run hospital in eastern India killed 10 critically ill patients.
In 2019, a major fire in Delhi killed 43 factory workers who were sleeping in a building in the city's old quarter.
Building fires are common in India because of a lack of firefighting equipment and disregard for safety regulations. Electrical short circuits, often caused by poorly maintained wiring, remain the leading cause of fire incidents in the country.\
(With inputs from agencies)
