20 coaching class students jump to death after Surat building catches fire

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he anguished by the deaths in Surat fire, asks authorities to help families.

A massive fire engulfed a four-storey commercial complex in Surat on Friday, killing at least 20 teenage students at a coaching centre, many of whom jumped and fell to their deaths while some were suffocated, officials said.

In a video clip of the incident, some young students at the Takshashila Complex in Sarthana area, where the building is located, can be seen jumping off the third and fourth floors amid plumes of thick smoke.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said at least 20 students have died in the fire, but Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel has put the figure at 20.