12 School Children Killed in Hostel Fire

NEW DELHI, Feb. 12, 2010, 09.40 Hrs (CBCI News):

A fire in a school hostel in Palin, some 200 kilometres from Arunachal capital Itanagar claimed the lives of 12 children.

The children died when a private hostel run by a local person was gutted on Wednesday, February10, night. All the students are studying in Don Bosco School, Palin. Bishop John Thomas of Itanagar has expressed grief and sorrow at the death of these innocent children.

In a letter the Bishop said that since Palin is about 8 hours of journey by road, and as he was not able to establish telephone contacts, further information is awaited. He clarified that although all the children who died were attending the Church-run Don Bosco School, the parish and the school do not have anything to do with the administration of the hostel which was gutted. Hostels run by private individuals are common near our parishes and schools as we cannot take all the applicants into our hostels, he said.

Several Church leaders have condoled the death of the children, and the Christian community is offering special prayers for the children who died, and their dear ones.