New Delhi: Britain today expressed deep sorrow over the death of several children in a school fire in Tamil Nadu.

"I was horrified this morning to hear of the fire which has killed so many young children in their school at Kumbhakonam", British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said in a condolence letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Offering British Government's sincere condolence to the families of those killed and injured in this terrible incident, he said "our thoughts are with you all", a British High Commission release said.

Meanwhile, President A P J Abdul Kalam today said he was saddened to learn about the tragic incident in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu in which numerous young lives were lost in a fire in a school.

In a message to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the President said, "kindly convey my condolences to the parents of the young students whose lives have been so tragically lost."

"I am saddened to learn about the tragic incident," he said observing, "I am sure that the State Government is making all efforts to extend help to the families of the deceased and the injured."

Both Houses of Parliament mourned the death of several children in a major fire in a Tamil Nadu school.

"I express my profound grief over the incident and convey heartfelt sorrow of the House to bereaved families," Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said.

Rajya Sabha too condoled the death of children in the fire incident.

"We join the people of Tamil Nadu in paying our condolence to family members of those killed in the ghastly fire," Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said.

Both the Houses observed a minute's silence in memory of those killed.