Thirteen children were killed during a fire at a mosque in Yangon, Burma that serves as an orphanage.
Three were able to escape, The Guardian reports.
The blaze began around 3 a.m. in a loft inside the mosque, a witness told The Guardian. Fire officials responded and blocked off the roads, but weren’t able to extinguish the flames in time to save any of the children.
Some believe the fire was purposely set, given the location of the mosque in an area of high tensions and ongoing violence between Muslims and Buddhists, The Guardian said.
A police officer at the scene, however, moved to quell that rumor. He said in The Guardian that the fire stemmed from an electrical short “and not due to any criminal activity.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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