Seventeen school girls die in fire at Thai boarding school after becoming trapped in their dormitories

At least 17 schoolgirls have died in a fire at a Thai boarding school. 

The children, aged between five and 12, were sleeping in their dormitories at Pithakkiart Witthaya School when flames tore through the building in Wiang Pa Pao, Chiang Rai at around 11pm. 

Two girls are still unaccounted and five others have been taken to hospital with severe burns. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

Some of the school's 38 students were not yet settled in their dormitories and were able to escape, local police said. 

They watched in horror as flames engulfed the building where at least 17 had been sleeping in their beds. 

'The fire broke out at 11pm on Sunday. Seventeen girls were killed and two are still missing, with five injured,' Police Colonel Prayad Singsin, Commander of Wiang Pa Pao district in Chiang Rai said