3 girl students killed, 2 injured in Chandigarh blaze (Lead)

Chandigarh, Feb 22 (IANS) Three girl students -- aged around 20 years -- were killed and two others got injuries on Saturday in a major fire in their double-storey paying guest accommodation at a residential area in Chandigarh's Sector 32, police said.The cause of the fire is believed to be short-circuiting.The fire occurred on the first floor of the house that was housing more than 30 students in makeshift rooms.At the time of the incident, most of the students were out of the paying guest accommodation, which is allegedly being run illegally.One student jumped from the window of a bathroom to escape, the police said.Two of the three girls who died are from Punjab and one was from Haryana.They were identified as Prakshi, Muskan and Riya.
--IANS vg/pgh/