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Saturday, Jul 17, 2004

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Nation grieves for fire victims

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 16. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, led the nation in condoling the death of school children in a fire at a school in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district today.

In a condolence letter sent to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, the President said:

"I am saddened to learn about the tragic incident in Kumbakonam today, in which numerous young lives were lost in a fire in a school. Kindly convey my condolences to the parents of the young students, whose lives have been so tragically lost. I am sure the State Government is making all efforts to extend help to the families of the deceased and the injured."

In a message through the Union Minister for Communications and IT, Dayanidhi Maran, the Prime Minister said:

"I am deeply saddened to learn about the tragedy in which several innocent children lost their lives in a fire accident in a private school in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.

"It is our children who are the most precious asset of our nation and the loss of so many innocent lives is a matter of deepest sorrow. I join you and the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of grief. My heart goes out in sympathy to the parents of these children. Kindly convey my heartfelt condolences to the parents and other members of the bereaved families."

The Prime Minister spoke to Ms. Jayalalithaa and enquired about the incident. He also asked the Union Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and Mr. Maran to visit the site and help in the relief operations.

Mr. Maran reached Kumbakonam from New Delhi late tonight.

The two Houses of Parliament also mourned the death of the children and observed a minute's silence in their memory. In the Lok Sabha, the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, read out a reference which expressed the profound sorrow of the House and conveyed its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. In the Rajya Sabha, the Chairman, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, read out a statement which said that the House joined the people of Tamil Nadu in paying condolences to the family members of the children killed in the ghastly fire.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in a message from Bangkok where she has gone to attend an international conference on HIV/AIDS, said: "I am shocked and saddened at the death of 75 children in a school fire in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district. I offer their families my heartfelt condolences. I am also concerned for those injured who need immediate medical attention.''

The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, and the Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, among others, expressed sorrow and conveyed their condolences to the bereaved families. "The entire nation is with the parents of these school children in their moment of great tragedy," Mr. Patil said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party president, Venkaiah Naidu, expressed shock and grief on behalf of his party at the tragedy that had befallen innocent children in Tamil Nadu and conveyed his and his party's heartfelt condolences to the parents.

The Communist Party of India, in a statement, demanded that a proper probe be conducted to find the causes for the accident and safety measures provided by schools in the State. It also demanded adequate compensation to the victims' families.

The former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, spoke to Ms. Jayalalithaa this afternoon to convey his condolences to the parents of the victims.

The Leader of the Opposition and former Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, expressed deep shock and grief at the tragedy. In a statement, he conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims.

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