Shimla: Makar Sankranti celebrations turned into deep mourning in Talagna village of Himachal’s Sirmaur district in the wee hours of Thursday, as a fire engulfed an old wooden house and killed six members of a family, including three children.Only one person survived the blaze but he was severely burnt. All the victims were guests at the house of Mohan Singh in Talagna village, around 120km from Shimla. This comes three days after 10 lives were lost in a fire in Solan’s Arki market.All of them were asleep when the fire broke out around 2:30am. Neighbours alerted the fire department and began a rescue effort immediately. They pulled out 42-year-old Lokender from the burning house but couldn’t reach the others.Sisters Tripta, 44, and Kavita, 36, had come with their families to visit their parents on Makar Sankranti. They died in the blaze along with Tripta’s husband Naresh, 50, 13-year-old twins Kritika and Sarika, and three-year-old Kritik. Naresh and Tripta were from Taproli in Rajgarh tehsil of Sirmaur. The others were from Khumra village in Chaupal tehsil of Shimla.Kavita’s husband Lokender is being treated at Solan Regional Hospital, where doctors managed to stabilise his condition. He suffered severe facial burns.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Locals say they heard an LPG cylinder blast that fuelled the blaze. Police have registered a case and started an investigation. Sirmaur deputy commissioner Priyanka Verma visited the site.Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu offered his condolences to the bereaved family, and directed the Sirmaur administration to carry out a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident and to ensure that all possible assistance is extended to the victims’ kin.Local MLA from Shri Renukaji assembly constituency, state Congress president Vinay Kumar, who was in Delhi on Thursday, rushed back and visited the village. In his condolence message, he said: “All residents are requested to ensure that any fire or brazier (angithi) used during winter is completely extinguished before going to sleep, and that gas cylinders are properly turned off, so that such accidents do not occur again.“Former chief minister and present leader of the opposition Jai Ram Thakur, and state BJP president Dr Rajeev Bindal also expressed their condolences to the bereaved families.MSID:: 126548008 413 |
