Bhiwandi fire: Late for exam, 12-year-old climbs down from bathroom window

A 12-year-old boy who was trapped in a third-floor flat of a building that caught fire in Bhiwandi on Tuesday took it upon himself to escape from a bathroom window after tying a rope to it. His reason? He had an exam at school and was concerned that he was getting late.

Adnan Khan, a class VII student of Bhiwandi Nizampura Corporation School, had his final exam before the summer vacation started. When the fire broke out in his building, he was already dressed in his school uniform. But when he saw his family members rushing out of his flat to escape to the building's roof, he wasted no time in going to the bathroom, tying a rope to the window there and — much to the shock of rescuers — climbing down to the ground floor.

Adnan's brother, Naseeruddin Khan, said: "Luckily, he did not slip or else he would have fractured his bones."

Adnan said: "I used the rope to climb down since my teacher would have punished me if I was late for exams." Asked if he had felt afraid while climbing down, he added: "I don't feel afraid of anything."