Fire at Lucknow training centre kills at least 15 students

Flames ripped through a three-storey commercial building on Usha Mehta Marg in Lucknow’s Aliganj area, killing at least 15 people, most of them students, after a training session turned into a mass-casualty emergency. The fire struck a coaching and animation centre housed above other businesses, including a pet shop and veterinary clinic, in a structure now at the center of urgent questions about evacuation, exits and enforcement.

Fire crews sent multiple engines to the scene, including a hydraulic platform vehicle, and battled the blaze for more than an hour before bringing it under control. Some students reportedly jumped from upper floors to escape the flames, while others were feared trapped as rescue teams worked through the smoke and heat. Early casualty figures rose through the day as the scale of the disaster became clear, reflecting the chaos that often surrounds fast-moving urban fires.

The building’s mixed use has sharpened scrutiny of how private education spaces are regulated in India’s crowded cities. A prior report had said at least 17 coaching institutes in Lucknow were found lacking adequate fire safety arrangements, with notices issued and possible licence action threatened, a warning that now looks starkly relevant. The deadliness of this fire has pushed attention beyond the immediate loss of life to the broader pattern of overcrowding, poor exits and uneven compliance in a sector that serves thousands of students every day.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak visited the site and said he had seen bodies being recovered, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a high-level inquiry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ex gratia relief from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the families of those killed and for the injured. Rescue operations were later said to be complete, but the central issue remains unresolved: why a building used for instruction was allowed to become a trap for students in the first place.