SRINAGAR, Oct 18: Two schoolchildren died and six were hurt Monday when an 11,000-volt electric wire fell on the courtyard of a school on the outskirts of Srinagar, police said.

Some 40 pupils were writing examinations in the courtyard at Shariefabad school when the high-tension overhead cable cane plunging down, said a teacher at the school.

"Everybody began running for safety but some of the boys tried to climb the fence separating the school premises from the adjacent Power Grid Station in an attempt to move out," said the teacher.

"But since the electric wire was touching the fence made of barbed wire and iron sheets, the poor boys were electrocuted," she added. Police said both victims were seven years old.

After the accident, angry crowds attacked the Power Grid Station and torched a building.

Local Inspector General of Police K. Rajendra Kumar pointed a finger at the Power Development Department. "How did they allow a high-tension wire to run over the school?" he asked.

"It is an unfortunate incident. We will ensure that those responsible are taken to task," said a school education department official.-AFP