Surat Fire Tragedy: FIR registered against 3 in Surat fire case; coaching centre owner arrested

Gujarat: Surat police filed an FIR against three people including builders of the complex- Harshal Vekaria and Jignesh, and the owner of the coaching centre Bhargav Bhutani #SuratFire pic.twitter.com/ALih4xJBJZ

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2019

At least 20 schoolchildren were killed after a massive fire broke out in a multi-storey Takshila building in Sarthana area. the fire broke out at the third and fourth floor Takshashiila Commercial Complex. A coaching class was underway at the building.

Eye-witnesses claimed that there were around 50 students in the complex when the fire started. “There was smoke, I did not know what to do. I took the ladder, first helped the children get out of the place, managed to save 8-10 people. Later I managed to rescue 2 more students. The fire brigade came after 40-45 minutes,” an eye witness Ketan quoted saying by ANI.

Videos of the incident captured by the locals showed people jumping from the building. Local residents were seen helping in the rescue operation. "Around 10 students on the fourth and third floor jumped off to the ground to save themselves from fire and smoke," said a fire official.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered an investigation into the incident. CM has also declared financial help of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of children who died in this incident, said Gujarat CMO office. Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel said they will check if the construction was illegal.

Also read: Surat: 20 students killed after massive fire breaks out at coaching centre in Takshila Complex