Surat: At least 18 students were killed after a massive fire broke out at a coaching centre in Gujarat's Surat on Friday afternoon.
Videos posted by witnesses on social media showed several students jumping out of windows on the top floor of the four-storey building to escape the blaze.
Most of the students are said to be between the ages of 14 and 17. Disturbing visuals showed people on the pavement asking the students to jump off the burning building, hoping to catch them. Among those seen falling was a young child. "Some of these students are critical but the crowd managed to save their lives," Darshana Jardosh, the parliamentarian from Surat, told Indian media..
The fire, which broke out at around 3:30 pm, engulfed the top two floors of the commercial building called Takshashila Arcade in the Sarthana area of Surat, officials said. Huge plumes of smoke covered the area. Local residents were seen helping in the rescue operation.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire. The owners of the building are on the run, police officials said. It did not have a functioning fire escape.
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