Students and teachers evacuated from Sharjah school blaze

Almost 600 students were forced from their school on Tuesday morning after a fire broke out at the Sharjah Model School for Boys on Tuesday.

More than 600 people were evacuated from Sharjah Model School for Boys in the Al Azra area on Tuesday after a fire broke out in one of the rooms. Courtesy Sharjah Civil Defense

SHARJAH// Almost 600 students were forced from their school on Tuesday morning after a fire broke out.

Sharjah Model School for Boys, in Al Azra, was evacuated after a faulty air conditioning unit sparked a fire.

Sharjah Civil Defence said of the 579 students, 45 teachers and administrators, six workers and five supervisors that had to leave the building, none were injured.

The blaze started at 9.04am in the teachers’ lounge, destroying the room, said Brig Abdullah Al Suwaidy, director of Sharjah Civil Defence.

Fire crews, municipality staff and police support teams arrived at the scene within minutes of being alerted, before disconnecting the building’s electricity.

The fire did not spread to any other rooms and was put out by 10am.

Authorities have launched an investigation.