A fire was started by electrical equipment that was faulty in Myanmar at an Islamic school on Tuesday. The fire killed 13 schoolboys. Some Muslims voiced a great deal of concern since the fire followed a wave of violence that has been anti-Muslim in nature in the country that has a Buddhist majority.
The boys died of suffocation after the fire started in one of the school’s dormitories in the Botataung district, which is multi-ethnic.
A fire fighter said the fire had started due to a transformer overheating that was underneath one of the staircases. The fire spread and trapped the boys who were asleep in the attic. Because of that, 13 boys who were all 12 years of age died due to smoke inhalation.
Nearly 70 boys were estimated to be sleeping when the fire broke out. Most of them were able to escape when the double locked doors leading to the outside were broken open by fire fighters.
On Tuesday, law enforcement officers took an iman in for questioning and said that a case had been opened and negligent homicide could be charged against the people responsible for the building.
Witnesses and neighbors said it was most likely that the doors had been locked at the dormitory for security reasons following the violence that has taken place. The windows were also barred.
The entire area was cordoned off by riot police even though the crowd that had gathered was peaceful. Even though electrical fires are a major cause of fires in the country, many Muslims worry about the cause of the fire.
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