Fire at Jharkhand school's hostel, narrow escape for 25 girls

LATEHAR: At least 25 girls had a narrow escape when a fire broke out in a hostel room of a residential school in Jharkhand's Latehar district on Monday morning, police said. Beds and study materials of these students of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Bariyatu, were gutted in the fire, first noticed around 6 am, a senior officer said.

A fire tender was pressed into service, and it took more than an hour to douse the blaze, he said.

"Locals and students helped the fire brigade personnel control the blaze. All 20-25 inmates of the hostel room were out on the ground for physical training when the fire broke out . The initial investigation suggests that a short circuit caused the fire," Bariyatu police station in-charge Ranjan Kumar Paswan told PTI.

Altogether, 221 girls reside in the hostel, the school authorities said.