A girls' school, with more than 1,400 students inside, caught fire in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Haripur district on Monday, DawnNewsTV reported. According to the report, more than 1,000 female students were inside the Government Girls' High Secondary School Sirikot when the fire started. According to the latest development, all students were rescued safely from the school.
Although an official statement regarding the cause of the incident was yet to come, Rashid, a parent of a student at the school, revealed that his daughter was present in the classroom where the fire originated. According to him, the fire was seemingly initiated by sparks originating from the roof, suggesting a potential short circuit.
A correspondent from Dawn.com reported that the fire rapidly engulfed the entire building, resulting in severe damage to both the structure itself and the contents within, including furniture and paper records.
Footage captured on mobile phones depicted massive clouds of smoke billowing from the school premises, with debris from charred roofs descending as flames raged within. Additionally, numerous local residents could be observed gathered outside the school.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur responded swiftly to the incident, instructing both the provincial education department and district administration to investigate the cause of the fire and provide a detailed report. Additionally, he emphasised the urgent repair of any damages to the school building to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of academic activities, as stated by his office.
According to local media reports, Haripur has experienced several fire incidents in recent years. In December, a tragic incident occurred when a woman lost her life and eight animals died in a fire at a cattle pen in Haripur’s Khanpur tehsil. During the summer of 2022, Haripur, along with three other KP districts, faced devastating wildfires that consumed hundreds of acres of forestland.
In October of the same year, a fire ravaged records and furniture in the office of the Pak-Austria Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology in Haripur’s Mang area.
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