A joyous occasion turns into tragedy as fire engulfs Muslim Public School Srinagar

Srinagar, Nov 14: A joyous occasion turned into a tragedy on Thursday early afternoons after the fire engulfed the top and second floor of the Muslim Public School in Rajbagh Srinagar.

Like other schools, the management of Muslim Public School had also planned several extracurricular activities for the students on eve of Children's Day but least they knew that they much waited moment will turn into a tragedy.

"As the exam session has been shifted to November. We decided to continue with class work in the first half and engage the students with different activities to celebrate the Children's Day in the second half of the day," Principal Muslim Public School Rajbagh, Shazia Rafiq told Greater Kashmir.

The top floor of the building was engulfed in flames at around 12:20pm when a group of students was busy playing during their games period in school ground. "The students were accompanied by the games teacher who noticed the flames out from the top floor. He immediately rushed inside, alerted all the teacher and we started rescuing the students," Principal said while recalling the devastating incident.

"The whole staff rushed to the classrooms and we made it sure that each and every child is evacuated from the building. With the collective efforts of the staff, all the students were rescued and evacuated unhurt. The staff members were also safe as well," she said. The principal said the top floor (3rd floor) which houses the auditorium and the 2nd floor of the building which houses the Smart laboratory, Geography laboratory, Science Laboratory, record rooms and Computer Laboratory was damaged.

"The incident is so devastating. We will never forget it in life. It is a public school and we had established it with dedication and hard work," Shazia Rafiq said.

Meanwhile as the fire engulfed in two floors of the building, the students were seen crying and in trauma as they were being rescued by the school staff. The fire incident dashed the hopes of the students who were eagerly waiting for the moment to celebrate the Children's Day with the school teachers and the peer group.

"All the arrangements were planned and we were just waiting for the students to get free from the lunch break and we will celebrate with them. But God had destined something else. The joyous occasion turned into tragedy," the school principal said.

She, however, said the school will remain closed on Friday and Saturday while the routine class work and other academic and non-academic activities will resume in school from Monday.

After the incident, the Minister for Education Sakeena Masood Itoo accompanied by the MLA Lal Chowk and Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Bilal Mohiudin Bhat visited the school premises.

During her visit, the minister visited the school building which was extensively damage in the fire incident, assessed the damage and spoke with school authorities and local officials about immediate needs and plans for recovery. The minister assured the school administration of department’s assistance in restoring educational facilities and addressing safety concerns to prevent future incidents.

The school principal said she was hopeful that the government will fulfill its commitment in providing assistance to the school. "The education minister assured us that whatever will be possible will be done to help the school," she said.

Meanwhile, President Private School Association J&K (PSAJK) G N Var urged the government to provide the immediate financial assistance to the school management post the devastating fire incident.

"It is a public school and is run on minimum budget. The school provides quality education to the students. The government should immediately provide some financial relief to the school," Var told Greater Kashmir.