A fire swept through a crowded, thatch-roofed private school in Kumbakonam, a town in Tamil Nadu State of India on Friday, killing at least 90 children.

Some women and children hold candles during a rally in Kumbakonam, southern India to mourn for the children killed in a local school blaze July 16, 2004.

This TV image shows rescue work is under way in a primary school in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, July 16, 2004.

Local people check through debris following the fire July 16, 2004.

Fire engines arrive at the site of the fire, July 16, 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2004)