TEHRAN, Iran, (AP) -- Thirteen elementary school students burned to death Thursday in a fire that broke out after a malfunctioning heater ignited a barrel of kerosene, local authorities said.
Eighteen other students were injured, some of them seriously, by the fire in Safilan village, some 700 kilometers (435 miles) south of Tehran, in the mountains of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province. The area is currently covered in snow.
A teacher who tried to save the children was admitted to hospital with serious burns, state television reported.
District Governor Ali Khani told the television that the dead comprised seven girls and six boys. He said the 13 students and the teacher were the only people in the school at the time of the fire.
Khani said that owing to technical failure, flames shot out of the heater and ignited a barrel of kerosene that had been left nearby. He gave no other details.
Later Thursday, the television said the dead had been buried in the village cemetery.
