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| Burmese Muslim school hit by deadly blaze in Rangoon | Burmese Muslim school hit by deadly blaze in Rangoon |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A fire at a Muslim school in the Burmese city of Rangoon has killed at least 13 people including children, officials say. | A fire at a Muslim school in the Burmese city of Rangoon has killed at least 13 people including children, officials say. |
| Police officers said the fire was caused by an electrical fault and not due to any criminal activity. Most of the children escaped unharmed. | |
| The fire comes amid an upsurge in violence between Buddhists and Muslims. | |
| At least 40 people have been killed since 20 March and curfews have been imposed in some areas. | At least 40 people have been killed since 20 March and curfews have been imposed in some areas. |
| Police spokesman Thet Lwin told the AP news agency the two-storey building - part of a mosque - in eastern Rangoon sheltered about 75 orphans. | |
| It was not immediately clear how many children were among the dead. | |
| Most of them escaped by running out of a door after police knocked it open, he said. | |
| Fire crews put out the blaze and the building is reported to be badly burned but intact. | |
| The Myanmar [Burma] Police Force said on its official Facebook page that the victims had died from burns or smoke inhalation. | |
| "According to the investigation by township police officers, the fire was caused by excessively high (electric) voltage," it said. | |
| On 22 March, a state of emergency was enforced in the central town of Meiktila in Mandalay region where communal violence began after a reported argument at a gold shop. | |
| President Thein Sein has warned that the government will use force if necessary to stop "political opportunists and religious extremists" from fomenting hatred between faiths. |