Lucknow building fire kills at least 14 people

At least 14 people were killed Monday when a fire broke out in a three-storey commercial building in Lucknow, India, according to Al Jazeera, AFP and The Associated Press. Many of the dead were students, state officials said, making the blaze one of the latest fatal building fires reported in India.

The building stood in a residential area of Lucknow, the capital of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Al Jazeera reported. It housed a library and animation studio used by college students on one floor, with a veterinary clinic on another.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak told reporters that 14 people were killed and four others were injured. He described the dead as children from families, while Al Jazeera reported that it was not immediately clear whether every victim was a student.

Reports differed slightly on the toll. Al Jazeera said some accounts put the number of dead at 14, while others reported 15 casualties.

Smoke slowed rescue work

The fire began on the middle floor of the three-storey structure, according to the report. Officials said heavy smoke made the rescue operation harder and forced firefighters to break through a wall to enter parts of the building.

Emergency crews brought in exhaust fans to clear smoke as they searched rooms for survivors, Al Jazeera reported. Firefighters were photographed working at the scene on June 22, with images distributed by AFP and AP.

Videos shared on social media and described by Al Jazeera showed people trying to escape through broken windows. One video appeared to show a man falling from an upper floor during the escape attempt; local media said he survived and was taken to a hospital.

Mohammad Asin, an employee at the animation studio, told the AP that staff had recently returned from lunch when they were warned about the fire. “At first we thought it was a small fire. By the time we tried to leave, smoke had filled the rooms and passageways,” he said.

Cause not yet known

Authorities had not immediately identified what started the blaze, Al Jazeera reported. The report also said there was no immediate confirmation that all of those killed had been students.

Al Jazeera noted that building fires are common in India and linked that pattern to poor compliance with safety rules and limited firefighting equipment in some buildings. The outlet also reported that electrical short circuits, often tied to poorly maintained wiring, are the leading cause of fire incidents in the country.

No official finding connected the Lucknow fire to an electrical fault in the initial reports. Officials had not announced a cause by the time the deaths and injuries were reported.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.