Fire in building where Malayali students live in Paris; many including passport burnt

PARIS: A fire broke out in a building where Indian students, including Malayalees, lived in Paris. One of the North Indian students sustained minor injuries. Eight out of the 27 Indian students are Malayalees. They are safe. However, important documents including the students' educational records and passports were burnt. The accident happened on April 9.

The fire broke out in the temporary rooms made of plastic where the students from India were staying for management and engineering studies. According to the students, the fire was caused by a short circuit in the refrigerator. The owner of the house, who is a Parisian, is in custody. The students were later accommodated to hotels by the Indian Embassy for the first two days with the cooperation of various organizations and individuals. They were later shifted to different houses.

Jithu Janardhanan, president of Sarva Malayali France, said that facilities have been arranged to stay temporarily for a month. The embassy informed that only after the police file a case, they can start the process of recovering the passport and other documents. Students are disturbed as their money, laptops and certificates were burnt.