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60 learners evacuated after NC school hostel catches fire

───   CHRISTAL-LIZE MULLER 09:22 Mon, 07 Mar 2016

60 learners evacuated after NC school hostel catches fire | News Article
OFM News

Britstown - Learners from the Theron High School in Britstown in the Northern Cape, whose hostel rooms were damaged in a fire, will be transported to the school from their homes every day.



This comes after a fire broke out on the first floor of a hostel at the school yesterday just after 12:00.

All the boys and girls who stay in the hostel were safely evacuated, but lost most of their belongings in the fire. Provincial education department spokesperson, Sydney Stander, says about sixty learners had to be accommodated last night.

According to him the learner’s parents were notified. Most of the learners are from Vosburg, situated about 60km from Britstown, and had to be transported back home as hotels and guesthouses in town were not keen on accommodating them.

Stander says the affected learners will now be transported to school on a daily basis until alternative accommodation is available in Britstown. Two learners who hail from areas other than Vosburg are also included in the daily scholar transport system.

Stander says an infrastructure unit from the department of education is currently at the school investigating the incident. The unit is also looking at alternative accommodation in the form of mobile units in which the affected learners can be accommodated.

A teacher at the school, Cornel Stevens, says the entire first floor, with 12 rooms, burned down while some rooms on the ground level were also damaged. Learners and teachers were safely evacuated.

The cause of the fire is being investigated. It is still too early to establish the extent of the damage, says Stevens. According to her the school is collecting clothing and other personal belongings for the learners who lost everything in the fire.

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