Vizianagaram: A fire broke out on Wednesday morning at the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Tummakapalli, Kottavalasa mandal of Vizianagaram district in which 280 sleeping matteresses were turned into ashes. The incident occurred in the Intermediate second-year storeroom of the school.

According to reports, 280 mattresses donated by the Rotary Club on Tuesday night were completely destroyed in the fire. The sight of the mattresses burning in front of them left many students in tears.

Upon learning about the incident, School SO Vijayalakshmi immediately informed the Kottavalasa Fire Department.

S Kota and Kothavalasa fire staff have extinguished the fire. Preliminary investigations found that a short circuit might have been the cause of the fire.

Along with the mattresses, cosmetics, clothing, books and other belongings of students stored in the room were also gutted.

Firefighters had to break windows and doors to control the flames. Damage to electrical wiring and other infrastructure could push the total estimated loss to around ₹3 lakh.

District Educational Officer (DEO) Manikyam Naidu, accompanied by Dr Ramarao, APC of Samagra Shiksha, visited the school to assess the situation.

They interacted with students and assured them that immediate measures would be taken and there was no need to panic.

Minister Kondapalli Srinivas responded on this issue and spoke to the officials concerned. The Minister, who is on a tour in New Delhi enquired about the incident over the phone.

He instructed the officials to ensure such incidents do not recur and emphasised taking swift action to restore facilities and prevent inconvenience to students.