College students safe after fire in hostel building

A fire broke out on Thursday morning at MR Lodge in Royapettah, where students of Stella Maris College were staying. 

The hostel warden noticed the smoke and called the fire department. Firemen battled the flames for close to two hours. A section of the hostel was gutted as a re sult of the mishap, which the fire personnel suspect to be caused  by  ashort-circuit. The students were immediately moved to a safer location. 

While the hostel was not on the campus as reported earlier, the building had a private entrance from Stella Maris College. Principal of the college Dr Sr Jasintha Quadras said all the students were safe. “We confirm that our hostels and hostelites continue to be safe as always,” she said in an email.