A fire broke out in a three-story commercial building in the Indian city of Lucknow on Monday, killing at least 14 people, most of them students, officials said.

The blaze started on the middle floor of the building located in a residential neighborhood in the capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state. The building housed a library and animation studio for college students on one floor and a veterinary clinic on another.

“Fourteen children from happy families were killed in the incident,” state Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak told reporters, adding that four others were injured. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, nor was it clear if all the dead were students.

Social media videos showed people climbing out of broken windows. One video appeared to show a man falling from an upper floor while trying to escape. Local media said he survived and was taken to hospital.

Firefighters had to force their way into the building by breaking through a wall after dense smoke hindered rescue efforts, officials said. Exhaust fans were reportedly brought in to clear the smoke while emergency crews searched rooms for survivors.

Mohammad Asin, an employee at the animation studio, told The Associated Press that workers had just returned from lunch when they were alerted. “At first we thought it was a small fire. By the time we tried to leave, smoke had filled the rooms and passageways,” he said.

Building fires are common in India due to frequent disregard for safety regulations and a lack of firefighting equipment. Electrical short circuits, often caused by badly maintained wiring, remain the leading cause of fire incidents in India.

Source: www.aljazeera.com