4-month-old girl among 3 kids charred to death in Jind fire
ROHTAK: Three children of a family in Jind were charred after their shanty caught fire in the wee hours of Sunday.
Police said Afsha, 6, Zeeshan, 4, and four-month-old Jiah were burnt alive, while their mother Shakira, sister Zoya and cousin Faqreen suffered grievous burn injuries.
They were admitted at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak.
Their father, Shanu Khan, told police that the fire occurred around 1am when the family was asleep. He managed to pull out his daughter (Zoya) and his brotherin-law’s daughter (Faqreen), but couldn’t rescue others as the visibility was reduced due to heavy smoke.
The police informed that the family hails from Muzzafarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh.
The husband-wife were working as labourers in Jind and had built a shanty in the orchards behind BSNL telephone exchange on Hansi Road.
“There could be two reasons behind the fire. One could be that it took place due to a short circuit as they were using a pedestal fan. The second possibility is that the fire spread from a spark from the mud stove because the weather was breezy and the family had cooked dinner a while back,” Jind city SHO inspector Nar Singh said. “We are investigating the matter,” he said, while ruling out any foul play in it.