Policemen stand guard in front of the Islamic school after a fire broke out at the school in downtown Yangon early April 2, 1013. — Photo by AFP
Mayu Press:
April 2, 2013
On 2th April 2013, around 2.45 AM, Swardikiyah Islamic religious school was set on fire, and 13 school children were burnt alive in 48th Street of Botataung Township, Yangon.
There was more than one hundred students across the country of different regions study and memorize the Holy Qur’an. For unavoidable circumstances, the school was temporarily closed regular study but there were remained staying about 70 students only, and when the fire broke out, 55 of them could escape from fire. Unfortunately, 13 students who were under thirteen years old burnt alive in fire.
This was reported that the fire was claimed to be arson. Fire comes out from the shoe-cabinet first. When the students ran out on knowing the fire had broken out, they slipped on the staircase as it was wet with the petroleum oil, and they could sense the smell of it. The school was a two-storey building, and it was known that only inside the building was on fire.
The school didn’t store any flammables like gasoline or petroleum. The burnt dead bodies found together at one place. One of them didn’t catch fire at all but died and seemed they were sleeping in the beds. The authority told that the fire caused by wire-shock but people near the School heard a loud banging sound two hours before the ablaze. People no care where from it came as they were slept. The dead bodies had been taken to the hospital morgue, and escaped students kept in a camp. It was not wire-shock, it was definitely arson told by a resident from the fire-spot.
Mohamed Farooq is an activist and a B.Sc. Engineer on Electrical and Electronics.