Fire in Lucknow study center kills at least 14 students, officials say

A fire that tore through a three-storey commercial building in Lucknow killed at least 14 people and left the city confronting hard questions about whether a study center above shops had the exits, occupancy limits and safety systems to keep teenagers alive. Most of the dead were students aged 16 to 18, and officials said the toll could still rise.

The blaze broke out in the Aliganj neighborhood of Uttar Pradesh’s capital and spread quickly from the middle floor to the rest of the building. The property housed a pet shop and veterinary clinic on the lower floors, with a study center, library, animation studio and computer graphics section above. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said 14 bodies had been recovered, while at least 10 people were rescued and taken to hospital for treatment.

Witnesses said students jumped from upper floors to escape the flames. Firefighters had to force their way in by breaking through a rear wall after dense smoke choked the building, and emergency crews brought in exhaust fans to clear the smoke as they searched rooms and washrooms for survivors. An animation-studio employee, Mohammad Asin, said workers had just returned from lunch when the fire was discovered and that smoke filled the rooms and passageways before they could get out.

Officials said most of the victims were students and that some were children from families now facing sudden loss. Another report said four people were injured. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the deaths again pointed to a familiar pattern in India, where building-safety rules are often ignored and electrical short circuits are a frequent trigger of deadly fires.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the loss of life and announced relief money for the families of the victims. Authorities ordered a high-level inquiry and promised stern action against those responsible, a response that now puts the building’s layout, emergency access and compliance with fire rules under scrutiny.

The Lucknow deaths came amid a string of recent fatal fires in India, including a hotel fire in New Delhi about two weeks earlier that killed 21 people, a March blaze at a government-run hospital in eastern India that killed 10 critically ill patients, and a 2019 factory fire in Delhi that killed 43 workers.