Fire hits public school

Hundreds of pupils had to be evacuated from Marlborough College today after a massive blaze ripped through a dormitory.

The alarm was raised in the early hours after a teacher spotted thick smoke at the public school in Wiltshire where Sarah Ferguson's daughter Princess Eugenie is a pupil.

Firefighters wearing oxygen masks led 14 people to safety but five boys were taken to Great Western Hospital in Swindon suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation and shock.

Assistant divisional officer

Steve Law of Wiltshire Fire Brigade said the fire broke out in the three-storey Barton Hill boarding house.

"We are currently in the process of damping down the building," he said. "About 30 per cent of the roof has so far been lost. An investigation is under way into the cause of the fire."

A spokeswoman for the ?21,900-a-year school said everyone had been accounted for and there were no serious injuries. "We have well-practised fire drills and everyone left the school in an orderly fashion," she said.

"All of the staff and pupils behaved in a sensible manner and have been accounted for."

A member of staff dialled 999 after noticing that the walls were hot and then seeing the smoke. Firefighters rushed to the scene and spent about an hour using powerful water jets to get the blaze under control. Fifteen boys had been sleeping in bedrooms close to where the fire broke out.

Police and fire investigation teams were at the boys' accommodation block in Barton Hill today, examining the area for clues that could indicate the cause of the fire.

Eugenie, 15, the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, has been at Marlborough for 19 months. Past pupils at the school, which was founded in 1843, include Princess Anne's ex-husband Captain Mark Phillips, singer Chris de Burgh, tycoon Peter de Savary, Otis Ferry and late poet laureate Sir John Betjeman.

Last month a teacher at the school, Andrew Roberts, resigned after he was arrested for allegedly downloading internet porn.