In the hinterlands of Bijapur, a conflagration of significant proportions claimed the life of a four-year-old girl amidst the early hours of Thursday in a government-operated residential school, as reported by authorities. Notably, the deceased was not enrolled as a student within the educational institution. Instead, she had been residing with a familial associate, who happened to be an eighth-grade student at the school, over the past few days.
The inferno, suspected to have originated from an electrical malfunction, manifested around 1 am within the precincts of the porta cabin-based (a prefabricated portable structure) school for young girls in Chintakonta village, situated under the jurisdiction of the Awapalli police station, as elucidated by Bijapur Collector Anurag Pandey. Visual representations of the scene unveiled the complete devastation of the porta cabin structure, commonly employed for erecting scholastic facilities in regions impacted by Naxal insurgency in the state.
“At approximately 1 am, a female staff member of the establishment discerned the emergence of flames and promptly apprised her colleagues, resulting in the swift evacuation of the children from their living quarters,” articulated Pandey, who, alongside other officials, conducted an on-site assessment of the incident. The residential school, constructed through the utilization of bamboo, comprises three blocks, all of which succumbed to the rapid propagation of the fire, leaving them in ruins.
The staff successfully evacuated a total of 308 children spanning from classes 1 to 8, along with some pupils from classes 10 and 12. Regrettably, a sixth-grade student revealed that her four-year-old niece, the daughter of her sibling, who had been residing with her for the past few days, remained inside the room but tragically couldn’t be rescued in time, according to Pandey.
The victim had extended her stay with the student after a familial visit a few days prior. Despite the parents’ attempt to reclaim her on Monday, the child expressed a desire to stay, an arrangement sanctioned on compassionate grounds, according to the official. The bereaved family had intended to retrieve her on Thursday, but circumstances took a tragic turn.
“Preliminary findings suggest an electrical short-circuit in the starter switch of a borewell pump may have precipitated the fire, though the precise cause will be ascertained post a forensic examination,” he asserted, underscoring the ongoing investigative efforts. Subsequent to the alert, a firefighting unit reached the location, and with the collaborative efforts of local villagers, successfully quelled the blaze.