19 KILLED IN TUVALU SCHOOL FIRE
FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu (March 9, 2000 - An investigation has been launched into a school fire in which 18 girls and a matron were killed.
The fire broke out in a secondary school residential hostel on the island of Vaitupu.
Thirty-six students and a matron were sleeping in the hostel at the time of the blaze.
Tuvalu Government spokesman Saufatu Sopoaga said 18 female students managed to escape the flames by smashing down a door, but he said the other girls and the woman were trapped inside:
"A very serious tragedy has happened in the only secondary school of Tuvalu.
"Now this secondary school is a boarding school and it's a mixed boarding school, girls and boys.
"Communities are now mourning the death of the 18 girls," he said.
For additional reports from Radio Australia, go to PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT News/Information Links: Radio/TV News/Radio Australia.
Add new comment