A fire broke out in a student dormitory in Ljubljana at around 4 a.m. local time, injuring 11 children, one of them with serious burns, the Slovenian agency STA reported, quoted by BTA.
A total of 363 people were evacuated from the "Ivan Cankar" dormitory in the Slovenian capital, and firefighting, rescue and civil protection teams participated in extinguishing the fire. Some of the children were hospitalized due to smoke inhalation or injuries sustained when jumping from the building's balconies.
Semso Mujanovic, the dormitory manager, told national broadcaster RTV Slo that the fire started at the entrance to the building, on the escape route to the staircase. "The difficulty was that the fire broke out right on the escape route. The students could not escape along that route because the fire blocked the way," he added.
According to him, the only other means of escape were the balconies, which were too high for a safe jump. However, some children managed to escape by jumping from a lower balcony on one side of the building.
The fire is believed to have started in an ecological waste separation area in the dormitory's hallway. Mujanovic stressed that the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Education Minister Vinko Logaj said the government is preparing new safety measures in student dormitories, including providing psychosocial support to the affected children and increasing the number of caregivers in the coming period.
Most students will be able to return to the unaffected parts of the dormitory as early as this week.