ASIA/INDIA - 14 children die, 6 hospitalized after fire at student hostel

Dimapur (Agenzia Fides) – On Thursday, February 11, a fire broke out in a small student hostel near the Don Bosco Institute in Palin, in the State of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China in the “India-Dimapur” Province. 14 children died and another 6 are in hospital. Fr. Maria Arokiam Kanaga, Councillor for the Salesian South Asia Region wrote that the small hostel, run by a Catholic family, was built of wood and it seems it caught on fire through the candles that were used by students to study at night. “These students were studying in our school. Although we have nothing to do with the hostel, the public is protesting against us. Of these children who died only one is a Catholic and the others belong to a Protestant sect...” said Fr. Kanaga. “The confreres, unable to dialogue with the crowd, have locked themselves in the house, and they are safe. The situation is tense,” he added. “Most of the houses in those areas are made of bamboo, and thatched with leaves and palms. So it was nothing unusual that this hostel was in that way. I request you pray for the children, their families, and our confreres and the school,” he concluded. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 13/02/2010)