Pakistan: Nearly 1,400 Girls Escape Safely After Fire Engulfs School Building In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The fire erupted in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Haripur district’s Sirikot village, where hundreds of students were present. A short circuit is believed to have caused the blaze.

Nearly 1,400 girl students narrowly escaped disaster on Monday as they were safely evacuated from a school building engulfed in flames in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to media reports.

The fire erupted in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Haripur district’s Sirikot village, where hundreds of students were present, a rescue official told Pakistan's Geo News, as quoted by PTI.

Firefighters and local residents collaborated to extinguish the blaze, with the fire brigade facing challenges reaching the site due to the difficult mountainous terrain.

Faraz Jalal, a rescue official in Haripur, said there were almost 1,400 students in the school at the time, and all were safely evacuated from the building, the report said. The official also said the fire badly damaged the school building.

The rescue department confirmed that there were no fatalities and stated that half of the school building was made up of wood.

While there has been a series of militant attacks on schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the latest incident is believed to have been an accident, caused by a short circuit.

Fire Was Due To A Short Circuit: Official

Rashid, father of a student at the school, said his daughter was in the classroom where the fire originated. He said it started with sparks from the roof, which suggested a short circuit might have been the cause.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry confirmed the fire was caused by a short circuit, and said an investigation is underway. The school will be made functional soon, he added.

According to Dawn, the fire spread quickly through the building, completely burning the furniture and paper records inside the school.

Purported footage of the fire showed large plumes of smoke rising from the building, and a burning roof collapsing as flames spread inside. Numerous local residents were seen gathered outside the school.

Area Prone To Militant Attacks

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region has a history of militant attacks on schools. Just earlier this month, on May 8, unidentified militants destroyed a private girls’ school in North Waziristan's Tehsil Shewa, after torturing the watchman, a PTI report quoted police as saying.

Last May, two girls' schools in Mir Ali were blown up, though no loss of life was reported in any of the three incidents.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur praised the quick response of rescue officials and confirmed an investigation by the education department and district administration is under way. He said all educational institutions would be reviewed to prevent similar incidents, adding that the provincial government would compensate for the damage caused by the blaze.