Thailand: Chiang Rai school reopens a week after fire kills 17 girls

Rescue workers on the scene of the fire. Image via Thairath Online.

31st May 2016

THE boarding school in northern Thailand that was razed by a fire that killed 17 girls last week has reopened, a volunteer at the school said.

However, only a third of the students returned to the school as families remain concerned about their children’s safety.

Thuenjai Thanachaikan, who helps out at the Pithakkaiat Witthaya School outside Chiang Rai, said that of the 142 students enrolled, less than 50 returned to classes Monday

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SEE ALSO: Thailand: 17 schoolgirls killed in fire at school dormitory

She said parents are having a difficult time deciding whether to allow their young children to return.

The May 22 fire claimed 17 lives at an all-girls dormitory at the school, which provides free housing for impoverished children who are members of hill tribe minorities.

The bodies have slowly been returned to their families following DNA analyses to confirm their identities.

Investigators said the fire was most likely caused by an overheated neon lamp, The Nation reports.

Forensic Science Centre 6 commander, Pol. Maj. Gen. Sant Sukhawat, said the lamp became overheated and melted, and dropped into a pile clothes in the recreational room. The clothes were meant to be donated to the poor.

According to the news site, the heat of the melted lamp had lit up the clothes and spread across the dormitory quickly.

Additional reporting by Associated Press