Students paid the price for obedience

Obedience to teachers appears to have played a key role for the death toll to go up in the fire tragedy that struck a private school complex in this temple town in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district, which claimed 80 lives.

Police said most of the students did not move out of their classes as one of the teachers ordered them to remain in their places as the fire was "too minor" and was being doused.

"Do not get panicky. Remain in your place," was the teacher's command to the pupils who ultimately fell victims to the inferno.

District Collector J Radhakrishnan said the dead included 27 boys and 33 girls. The remaining 20 were charred beyond recognition.

While the high school and middle school students escaped on noticing the fire, the nursery school children got trapped as the thatched roof collapsed on them making their movement difficult.

The injured were rushed to government and some private hospitals where their condition was stated to be serious.

As the news of the fire spread, parents and relatives of the children rushed to the school to look for their wards.

Crying and sobbing parents anxiously watched as the charred bodies were extricated from the debris.

Similar scenes were witnessed at the hospitals where parents searched for their loved ones among the injured.

Nearly 500 representatives of parent-teachers association, demonstrated outside the school demanding the arrest of school manager.

The incident is the second major fire mishap in the state this year after the inferno in a marriage hall in Srirangam, near Tiruchirappalli, in which 59 people were charred to death in January.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who flew in here by a helicopter, visited the accident site and also spent nearly 45 minutes in the government general hospital where the bodies had been kept.

The collector said 27 more children were undergoing treatment in the hospital of whom the condition of 15 was critical.

The district administration has ordered an inquiry into the fire. The managar of the school, Palanichamy, fled the scene and was absconding.

Condoling the deaths, President APJ Abdul Kalam said he was saddened to learn about the tragic incident. In a message to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who visited the school and the injured in hospitals, he said "kindly convey my condolences to the parents of the young students whose lives have been so tragically lost".

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh telephoned the chief minister and expressed shock and grief over the incident. He conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

In a message, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said "the entire nation is with the parents of these school children in this moment of great tragedy."

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also spoke to Jayalalithaa to convey his condolences to the parents of the victims.