A nighttime fire in a boarding school's dormitory in northern Thailand has killed at least 17 young girls.
Officials say five girls were injured, two seriously, when the blaze broke out Sunday in the wooden, two-story building that housed 38 students. Reuters reports 15 girls escaped without injury.
The girls at the school about 800 kilometers north of Bangkok ranged in age from five to 12 years. Most of the students were from the area's ethnic minorities.
One girl said "We remembered some lessons from Girl Scouts to tie cloth together to make a long rope and we climbed out of the window."