The remains of Shanti Niketan Awasia School at Raniganj in Araria. Telegraph picture

Araria, March 1: Two children were burnt to death in a fire that engulfed Shanti Niketan Awasiya School at Raniganj in Araria yesterday.

The building caught fire at midnight when the children were sleeping in the residential school.

The students were identified as Alok Kumar Jha (6) and Manoranjan Kumar (7) of nearby villages falling under Raniganj police station.

A day before the accident, Alok of Parmanandpur village took admission in the school. He was earlier studying in Mumbai, while Manoranjan from Kabilasa village was studying in lower kindergarten since last year.

No one from the school administration was available for comment. Neither the principal nor any teacher came to console the parents following the incident.

Students of classes IX and X of the school struggled to drag the children out of the leaping flames. A guardian, who had come to see his child last night and stayed back in the residential school, also suffered severe burn injuries and is being treated at a private hospital. Manoranjan’s grandfather Nitya Nand Jha said: “It was a black day in the history of residential schools.”

Sources said two gas cylinders kept inside the school office blasted during the fire that spread the flames across the building. One Suresh Raut’s house adjacent to the school was completely destroyed in the fire and valuables worth lakhs of rupees were burnt.

Sources said 106 children suffered burn injuries in the fire and two deaths have been confirmed so far. The remaining students were rescued from the school.

The station house officer of Raniganj police station, A.K. Singh, apprised the fire station of the fire. “Initial reports suggest that the fire could have been triggered by a short circuit,” Singh told The Telegraph. At the site of the incident, sub-divisional officer Binod Kumar said: “We are investigating the incident to ascertain the exact cause of the fire. We cannot say anything at this stage.”

The Araria district magistrate and collector, M. Sarvanan, said: “The sub-divisional officer is conducting the investigation into the incident. Victims would be compensated in conformity with the norms of the government.”