20120429 India Narrow escape for kids after fire in school
Apr 28 2012
Narrow escape for kids after fire in school
Updated: 2012-04-29-05:43
CUTTACK: Around 1500 students and 40 staff members of DAV Public School at Rajabagicha in Cuttack had a narrow escape when a fire broke out in the school building on Saturday morning.
Fire brigade officials said a short circuit had sparked off the blaze in the school’s electricity control room around 6.40 am. Within minutes, the entire building was engulfed in smoke. Parents and local residents rushed in and helped the school staff in evacuating the students.
Though no one was injured, the incident triggered chaos in the entire area with parents running helter skelter to find their kids. “I had gone to drop my son at school and was standing outside and chatting with some other parents, when suddenly we saw smoke billowing out from the electrical plug points of the building. We immediately alerted the school authorities about it and started evacuating the children from the school building,” said S K Rout, a parent.
The incident has brought to fore the fact that city schools are ill-equipped to fight fire hazards. The parents’ association have also alleged that the school does not have adequate fire fighting equipments or emergency exits. “By God’s grace, a major tragedy was averted today. Otherwise, hundreds of innocent children could have died due to suffocation. The school clearly lacks adequate fire fighting equipments and there are no emergency exit points. We will complain about it to the higher authorities and will also file a PIL in the high court against the lack of fire safety measures in schools,” said Aptakam Mishra, secretary of DAV Parents’ Association, Rajabagicha.
But the school authorities have refuted the allegations. “We do have safety measures like fire extinguishers in the school. All the staff acted in a swift manner to evacuate the children,” said Sunanda Mohanty, school principal.
The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/12917864.cms