Indian police file case against three over coaching center fire, death toll rises to 20

REUTERS: Indian police said on Saturday (May 25) they had filed a culpable homicide case against three people as the death toll from a building fire in India's Gujarat state rose to 20, with students attending coaching classes accounting for all those killed. Satish Sharma, Commissioner of Police in the city of Surat, told reporters that one of the three men named in the police report conducted the classes and has been arrested, though no charges have been brought yet. The Gujarat government has ordered an inquiry into the incident, as well as a fire safety audit of schools, colleges, coaching centres and commercial buildings in Surat, where the fire occurred. Initial investigations showed the fire, which broke out in the stairway of the multi-storey Takshashila Arcade building was caused by a short circuit, according to local media reports. Television footage showed students desperately trying to escape by jumping off the building as smoke billowed from the top floor. Police said the building owners were among the three people named in the report.