[1] The fire was started by a short circuit on the ground floor; the students in the coaching centre were trapped by the destruction of a wooden staircase.
[2][3] On 30 January 2019, 27 students were rescued from a coaching centre operating in a housing building when a fire broke out in a mattress shop on the ground floor.
An electrical short circuit in air conditioner started a fire on the ground floor near a staircase on the rear side of the building.
[2][9][13] Three of the students who died had appeared for the Class XII exams of the Gujarat education board, the results of which were declared on 25 May 2019, a day after their deaths.
[12] The Surat Municipal Corporation officials ordered an investigation regarding the statutory permission, including fire safety, of the building.
[11] The Surat Urban Development Authority (SUDA) had approved the plan for a residential scheme on the site in 2001 but a commercial complex was built illegally in 2007.
[17][18] Later, the Government of Gujarat ordered the shut down of all private coaching centres in the state until fire safety inspections are conducted.
The government also ordered a fire safety inspection of schools, colleges, coaching centres, hospitals, shopping malls and other commercial buildings.