16 Students Suffer Breathing Distress After Smoke in Jharkhand Residential School
Students suffer breathing issues after smoke from a short-circuit fire in the tribal girls’ hostel.
Sixteen students at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, a residential school for tribal girls in Jharkhand's Jamtara district, suffered breathing distress late Friday when smoke from an electrical short-circuit engulfed their hostel room. The incident, triggered by a transformer fire sparked by lightning, prompted a swift evacuation and medical response, highlighting vulnerabilities in rural school infrastructure amid the state's frequent monsoon hazards.
The chaos unfolded around evening at the Narayanpur block facility, where a nearby transformer ignited due to a lightning strike, leading to a short-circuit that billowed thick smoke into the hostel. Jamtara Deputy Commissioner Ravi Anand confirmed that the 16 affected girls, aged between 10 and 14, experienced coughing and panic but were rushed to a local community health centre by the school warden and nearby residents.
After primary treatment—including oxygen administration and monitoring—they were discharged the same night, with no serious injuries reported. Local villagers quickly doused the flames, preventing further escalation.
The girls' cries alerted school staff and community members, who used ladders to rescue them from the smoke-filled rooftop access points, averting a potential tragedy. District Education Officer Charles Hembrom noted that the hostel houses 450 girls in total, emphasising the scale of risk in such crowded accommodations. "Only 16 panicked severely due to the dense smoke, but all are stable now," he added.
The episode underscores ongoing concerns over electrical safety in Jharkhand's remote government schools, where outdated wiring and exposure to extreme weather exacerbate dangers for underprivileged students.
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In response, Anand has ordered a comprehensive probe led by Additional Collector Punam Kachyap to investigate the fire's causes and recommend preventive measures. A district-wide audit of electrical systems in all residential government schools will follow, aiming to upgrade facilities and install lightning arrestors.
Jharkhand, home to over 1.2 million tribal children in such hostels under schemes like KGBV, has seen similar incidents in recent monsoons, prompting calls for accelerated infrastructure investments to safeguard vulnerable education hubs.
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