On Saturday, Yashvi Kevadia would have received the results of her 12th-grade final exams and started to make plans for university, hoping to work towards her ambition of being a fashion designer.
Instead, on Friday evening, she called her father Dinesh to tell him that a fire had spread through her tutoring centre on the third and fourth floors of a building in Surat, a town in Gujarat state. Mr Kevadia was not able to reach her again. Yashvi died in the fire, along with at least 19 other students.
The names and other details of the victims have not yet been officially released. Four other students had been awaiting exam results on Saturday, government officials told AFP, adding that they had all passed “with flying colours”.
The source of the fire has yet to be determined, although an electrical short circuit is suspected. But the flames spread so quickly that students did not have time to flee. Some jumped off the top off the building, trying to escape. One of the jumpers, Rushit Vekariya, told the Times of India that he needed eight stitches on his head. "A friend is being treated in the same hospital, but I do not know if he will survive," he said.
The fire brigade reached the building only 45 minutes after the blaze broke out, and fire engines then had trouble finding a place to park – all of which delayed any rescue attempts.
One bystander, a young man named Ketan Jorawadia, found a ladder and leaned it against the building, climbed in at the third floor, and rescued, by his estimate, between eight and 10 students.
Paresh Patel, the father of a student who was rescued, told the news service ANI that he knew of “at least five-six parents [who] are still looking for their missing child”.
The National Human Rights Commission has called the incident “a grave violation of the human rights of the young students”. The building had no safe fire exits, the commission said, and the Gujarat government’s announcement of 400,000 rupees (Dh21,174) as compensation to the family of each dead student “cannot be a solution to such kinds of hazards”.
The chief minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, has directed an official to conduct an inquiry into the fire. Police officials said that the owners of the coaching centre would be charged with culpable homicide. One of the three men accused, Bhargav Bhutani, has been detained. The other two have not yet been found.
Images showing flames and black smoke billowing out of the building and students jumping from the upper floors have been widely shared on social media.
Widespread public grief and anger has been expressed at the disaster.
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan said on Twitter that he felt "grief beyond expression".
"A devastating fire and 14-17 year old children caught in it jump off the building and perish," he said.
R Madhavan another leading actor and producer, said on Twitter: "Those breaking the norms should be EXECUTED."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who comes from Gujarat state, said on Twitter: "Extremely anguished by the fire tragedy in Surat.
"My thoughts are with bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly. Have asked the Gujarat government and local authorities to provide all possible assistance to those affected."