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Fire Kills Students in Western India

by VOA News

   Officials in western India say at least 19 students were killed when a
   fire broke out Friday in a tutoring center in the city of Surat in
   Gujarat state.

   "The students lost their life both because of the fire and jumping out
   of the building," Deepak Sapthaley, a fire official, told AFP, the
   French news agency.

   The Associated Press reports that more than a dozen students have been
   hospitalized, suffering from burns or suffocation.

   "I'm told the youngsters were trapped in the building as the fire
   destroyed the staircase," said Vijay Rupani, Gujarat's state's top
   elected official.

   Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is from Gujarat, said he was
   "extremely anguished by the fire tragedy."