NEW DELHI - A fire that may have been caused by a short circuit igniting a thatched roof killed at least 80 children and injured more than 100 others in a southern Indian school Friday, a local government official was quoted as saying.
"Most of them were 6- to 13-year-olds," J. Radhakrishnan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the town of Kumbakonam in southern Tamil Nadu state, where the blaze occurred.
Radhakrishnan was quoted by the Press Trust of India (news - web sites) as saying the death toll had risen to 80, including 27 boys, 33 girls and 20 whose bodies were burned too badly to determine their gender.
PTI quoted him as saying 27 children were hospitalized and 15 were in critical condition.
