Their girls died in a fire that struck a school dormitory in Chiang Rai’s Wiang Pa Pao district on Sunday night.

The hospital has, so far, only released four bodies because the 13 other corpses have been charred beyond recognition. Officials said yesterday that it would take another eight to 10 days to identify the rest of the deceased.

The fire at the charity-run Pitakkiatwittaya School claimed 17 lives, and injured several others.

The girls-only dormitory sheltered 38 girls, aged between five and 12.

Pol Maj-General Sant Sukhavach, who heads Scientific Crime Detection Centre 5, said yesterday that initial evidence shows that the fire may have started from the plastic base of a fluorescent tubelight on the first floor of the dormitory.

“It may have overheated and started sparking, which set fire to the clothes piled up below,” he said.

Witnesses also said they saw the pile of clothes set ablaze. Sant said it was usually quite rare for the plastic base of tubelights to catch fire.

“There is little risk, but it’s still a possibility,” he said.

Funds for affected families

Deputy Education Minister Lt-General Surachet Chaiwong, meanwhile, visited five of the injured children at the Wiang Pa Pao Hospital yesterday. This victims are being treated for first-degree burns.

“Everybody is sad about what has happened,” Surachet said, adding that relevant agencies will provide help to those affected.

Wiang Pa Pao district chief Prasert Jitpleecheep said a “Help the Children killed in Wiang Pa Pao Fire” bank account has been set up to raise funds for the affected families. The Kasikornbank account number 012-3-98314-9 had already received Bt3.2 million as of press time.

Another “Help Victims at Pitakkiatwittaya School” account has been set up with Krungthai Bank for all the victims. The account number 984-5-08105-3 received Bt100,000 in donations as of press time yesterday.