Three Students Injured in Fire at Gurukul in Rajasthan's Bundi, One Critical

Three students were injured after a fire broke at a gurukul in Rajasthan 's Bundi district, with one of them suffering 90 per cent burns, police said on Thursday.

The blaze, reported in Talawas village of Dei area on Wednesday, was allegedly caused by sparks from neem leaves burnt as a mosquito repellent, said Shankar Lal, DSP, Nainwan circle.

The police will launch an inquiry into the safety measures at the gurukul and will take appropriate action, he said.

On Thursday morning, Lal reached Kota's MBS Hospital, where the boys were admitted, and took stock of the medical care. He also enquired the Gurukul Committee members about the incident. Dei Station House Officer Babulal said the incident occurred when students of the gurukul burned dry neem leaves as a mosquito repellent in a corner of the hall, where they were sleeping on foam mattresses, the police said.

Later at night, air from the fan and cooler spiralled sparks from the ash onto the foam mattresses, causing the fire, Babulal said.

Ritesh Sharma (13), Shivshankar Sharma (13) and Abhijeet Sharma (12) were injured in the fire, the police said.

Ritesh suffered 90 per cent burns and was referred to SMS hospital in Jaipur later in the day after his condition turned critical, they said.

The two others boys suffered 60 per cent burn injuries and are being treated at MBS hospital in Kota, they added.

Gurukul teacher Suresh Sharma said that he had taken a class of 14 children until 10:30 pm on Wednesday night.

After classes, 10 boys slept in the large hall with a fan and a cooler running and 4 slept outside, he said.

He said that upon hearing the boys scream, he rushed and rescued them from the fire. However, three were already injured by then, he added.