LAGOS Twenty-seven schoolgirls were burned alive and scores injured after a blaze broke out in a hostel at their school in central Nigeria where they were locked in to stop them meeting boys, reports said late Wednesday. Police speaking to the state-run NTA television said at least 23 students had died, but reporters said the toll was 27 dead with scores more injured, at least five of them seriously. The fire started late Monday in the girl's hostel of the government secondary school at Bwal-Bwang-Gindiri, around 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Jos, AFP quoted police as saying.