Thailand Dormitory Fire Kills at Least 17 Girls, Official Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/world/asia/thailand-dormitory-fire-chiang-rai.html

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A fire on Sunday night in a school dormitory in northern Thailand killed at least 17 girls, an official said.

The victims, ages 6 to 12, died after the fire broke out in the school in Chiang Rai Province around 11 p.m., said Prasert Jitpleecheep, an Interior Ministry official from the Wiang Pa Pao district office.

The girls were from predominantly Christian hill tribe villages of northern Thailand, said Suharit Poomsawan, who oversees a rescue team.

Many of the students were asleep when the blaze began, said Mr. Prasert, who arrived at the scene one hour after the fire started.

“The fire spread wildly,” he said. “We could rescue some students from the dorm. We rescued them from the second floor.”

Many of the girls were unconscious from smoke inhalation when rescuers reached the second floor of the building, Mr. Suharit said.

“Fire was all on the first floor,” he said. “Then it spread to the stairs, and it was impossible to use the stairs. They could not escape. It was like a trap.”

Five girls were injured, including two who were in serious condition, Mr. Prasert said. The two-story dormitory, which had 38 girls at the time of the fire, was destroyed. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

An image posted on the school’s Facebook page showed fire trucks spraying water at the building as flames shot high into the night sky.

“I have rescued people from many horrifying cases,” Mr. Suharit said. “But this one, they are all young girls. It’s very heartbreaking.”