At least 17 girls died during the night as a fire swept through a school dormitory in Chiang Rai province last night, a police commander said, adding that several others were either missing or injured.
“The fire broke out at 11pm yesterday. Seventeen girls were killed and two are still missing, with five injured,” Pol. Col. Prayad Singsin, Commander of Vingpatao district in Chiang Rai, told AFP today.
Two of the injured are in a serious condition, he added.
The Pitakkiat Witthaya School, which belongs to a local foundation and is not government run, is home to girls aged from three to 13 years old, he said.
The local media reported 38 students lived in the dorm where the fire broke out.
A second police officer from the same precinct said that the school is home to students from impoverished local hill tribes in the mountainous area.
“The fire is out, but the cause of the blaze is still under investigation,” Prayad said, adding forensic officers were due to arrive on Monday.
Photographs on the school’s Facebook page showed firefighters struggling to douse the flames as they engulfed the white, two-story building.
Hill tribes are often beyond the reach of state resources, suffering from issues related to lack of education, healthcare and development assistance.
Poverty causes some to resort to drug smuggling for narcotics gangs across the remote area, known as the “Golden Triangle,” that borders Laos and Myanmar.
Because Thailand has poor health and safety standards, accidents are common across the kingdom.
Story: AFP/ Coconuts Bangkok
