GUWAHATI: At least 10 schoolchildren were charred to death and many others injured in a fire at a hostel in India's remote northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state, a local official said today.

The fire broke out late on Wednesday in a building in which the children's hostel was located in Palin, a small town in Koloriang district, said Remo Kamki, the district magistrate.

The fire was most likely caused when the children used candles during a power outage, he said.

Local residents helped put

out the fire and took the

injured, some of whom were

badly burned, to a nearby hospital, he said.

Palin is a four-hour drive from the district headquarters, Koloriang, and is so remote that it does not have any telephone connections.