In a fortunate turn of events on Monday, nearly 1,400 female students were swiftly rescued from their school building as it was consumed by a large fire in the remote and rugged terrain of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, as reported by the media.
According to Geo News, which interviewed a rescue official, the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in the Sirikot village of Haripur district became engulfed in flames while it was filled with students. The official detailed how firefighters, with the help of local community members, worked to extinguish the fire. He mentioned fire brigade vehicles’ difficulty in reaching the fire site due to the challenging mountainous landscape.
Faraz Jalal, a Haripur’s Rescue 1122 spokesperson, was quoted saying that all 1,400 students were safely evacuated from the premises, although the fire significantly damaged the school structure. The rescue operation confirmed no fatalities and noted that the school’s construction, partly made of wood, was a factor in the fire.
The Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, acknowledged the fire’s cause was an electrical short circuit. Chaudhry assured us that an in-depth investigation into the incident is in progress and that plans are in place to promptly restore the school’s functionality. This incident comes amidst concerns over the safety of educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that has witnessed attacks on schools by militants.