Two children charred to death in Saran fire

CHHAPRA/PATNA: Two children were charred to death in a fire that broke out at their house at Baligaon village under the Parsa police station area in Saran district on Friday night.
Tragedy struck the family of Rambhu Sah when he along with his wife Nitu Devi had gone to attend a ‘tilak’ ceremony in the neighbourhood. The victims — Kundan Kumar (8) and Suhani Devi (5) – stated to be brother and sister, were fast asleep when the incident occurred.
At least three LPG cylinders kept in the building exploded due to the fire, causing grievous injuries to the two children.The intensity of the fire was so high that nobody could muster courage to enter the room and take out the two kids sleeping in the room. They were charred beyond recognition.
Eyewitnesses told the police that initially nobody could notice the fire as they were busy in the celebrations. They swung into action only when the fire engulfed the house. A high tension electric wire also collapsed on the house making the task for the residents and the fire personnel more difficult.
The ‘tilak’ celebrations were stopped midway due to the tragic death of the minor children. Two fire tenders from Sonepur and Maker were pressed into service to douse the flames. However, the victims had died due to burn injuries by the time fire tenders reached the village.
SHO of Parsa Bazar police station Kundan Kumar said electric short circuit was suspected to be the reason behind the fire. One Priya Kumari, who was sleeping beside the two deceased, was saved by the locals.
The SHO said at least six houses belonging to Shambhu Sah, Lal Babu Sah, Krishna Sah and Juna Rai were also gutted in the fire. A team of administrative officials visited the village and provided Rs 20,000 to the family members of the two deceased for funeral.