Fire swept through a dormitory at a school for girls from poor families in Thailand, killing at least 17 of them and injuring five.
The fire broke out late on Sunday as the girls aged five to 12 slept at the Christian school in the northern province of Chiang Rai. The school is for girls from the area's hill-tribe villages.
"Most of the losses were because the children were asleep," said district police chief Colonel Prayad Singsinon Monday.
"Those that got out were awake," he said.
Two of the injured were in critical condition, he said.
The cause of the fire was not known, he said.
A police official told The Associated Press two of the bodies were so badly burned they were unidentifiable.
Some girls survived without injuries, but it was not known how many.
Rescuers are searching for several others who are missing.
Firefighters took three hours to extinguish the fire, and police footage published on Facebook showed firefighters entering the building through the window of the second floor and pulling survivors and bodies out of the wooden building.
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