Tuesday, 02 April 2013 10:35 Mizzima News
Thirteen boys died in Botahtaung Islamic School in central Yangon when a fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday at the adjoining Yay-Gyaw Mosque.
 |
| A group of Muslim people pray for the victims of a fire at an Islamic school in Yangon on April 2, 2013. (AFP) |
Myanmar state media announced on Tuesday morning that the 13 were among some 70 students who were sleeping in the school on 48th Street in Botahtaung Township when the fire broke out at approximately 3 am. The students died of burns and smoke inhalation, the report said. Four students who were originally reported as missing have now been accounted for and are alive and uninjured.
Deputy Minister of Information Ye Htut wrote on his Facebook that the school fire occurred because of a faulty transformer inside the school.
Islamic religious leaders and local Muslims gathered at the school early on Tuesday morning to pray for the souls of the deceased.
The fire—assuming it was accidental—comes at an inopportune time for local authorities and the Muslim community in general, following on the heels of anti-Muslim riots in central Myanmar and a period of inter-communal tension in the former capital.
Subscribe to email feed
