LUCKNOW: A fire at a building housing a library and training center for university students in India killed at least 14 people on Monday, officials said.
The fire in Lucknow, capital of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, started on the middle floor of a three-story commercial building located in a residential area and soon spread to other levels.
“Fourteen children from happy families died in the incident,” the state’s deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak told reporters, adding that four others were injured in the fire.
It was not clear if all of the dead were students.
Several students jumped from the upper level of the building to the street to escape the flames, witnesses told an AFP journalist.
Indian television showed images of flames erupting from the front façade of the building as firefighters struggled to put out the fire.
The building housed a training center for university students, a library and a computer graphics section.
Building fires are common in India due to a lack of fire-fighting equipment and routine non-compliance with safety standards.
Electrical short circuits, often caused by poorly maintained wiring, remain the leading cause of fire incidents in India.
“Stern action will be taken against those responsible,” Pathak said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “distressed by the loss of life” and announced more than $2,100 in relief money for each family, his office said in a social media post.
The cause of the latest fire, which occurred about two weeks after a hotel fire left 21 dead in the capital, New Delhi, was not immediately known.
In March, a fire at a government 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 town.
