PRIME Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has emphasised that all agencies must learn a lesson from the tragic fire that killed 17 girls at a school dormitory in Chiang Rai province.

“It’s necessary that agencies prepare emergency response plans,” the prime minister said yesterday.

Prayut spoke up in the wake of the heartbreaking blaze that struck the girls-only dormitory of a charity school Sunday night. Five other girls were also injured in the tragedy.

“I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” the prime minister said yesterday. The victims were all aged between five and 12 years old.

As of press time, officials were still in the process of disaster identification as the bodies were charred beyond recognition. Prayut pointed out that with proper plans, people would know how best to react in the event of an emergency.

Dr Anurak Amornpetchsatha-porn, who heads the Public Health Ministry’s Bureau of Emergency Response, said schools and their dormitories may not have regular fire drills.

“I think it is good that the Education Ministry will publish a manual about emergency response. And it is going to be even better if the ministry will address the issue in collaboration with relevant agencies. For example, it may seek speakers from hospitals and fire-fighting units,” he said.

In the wake of Sunday’s fire, several boarding schools in the border province of Tak beefed up security measures in a bid to prevent such a tragedy from happening at their places.

On Monday, Education Minister General Dapong Ratanasuwan said he was sad about the big loss of life at the Pitakkiatwittaya School in Chiang Rai’s Wiang Pa Pao district.

He said although the school was not state-run, he felt the Education Ministry needed to make additional efforts to ensure that no such tragedy occurs again.

“I have instructed the Education Ministry’s permanent secretary Assoc Prof Dr Kamjorn Tatiyakavee to review emergency-response plans for schools. Such guidelines apply to all schools,” he said.

Dapong said he recently ordered the Office of Basic Education Commission to publish emergency-response manuals for each area too.

“For example, children in the northern region should be provided with guidelines about what to do in event that an earthquake or a fire strikes,” he said.

Dapong said he assigned the Office of the Private Education Commission to deliver help to the victims of the Pitakkiatwittaya School fire.

According to Wiang Pa Pao Police superintendent Pol Colonel Prayad Singsin, donations to the school can be made via Krung Thai Bank. The account name is Pitakkiatwittaya School and the number is 980-7-29346-4.

Chiang Rai public-health chief Dr Surin Sumanaphan disclosed yesterday that psychiatric teams from two hospitals had already reached out to the victims and their families.

“As of now, 19 people from 15 families will need psychiatric care,” he said.

He said that six people were hit quite hard and would need |medication.

Dr Paritas Silapakij, acting director of Suan Prung Psychiatric Hospital, said young children were prone to suffer bigger impacts from such a tragedy.

“To begin with, we will check on the victims three or four times a week. We will stay in contact with them and monitor conditions until they can return to their normal life,” he said.

Pol Major-General Piyapun Pingmuang, deputy spokesman for the National Police Office, said an investigation was going on to determine if anyone should be held responsible for the fatal blaze.

“Police have already questioned 15 witnesses,” he said. And more than 40 victims had already come forward.

“We need to determine if the fire was a result of an accident or the recklessness of any person,” he said.