Man charred to death as building catches fire in Amritsar

Amritsar, January 27

A man was charred to death after a three-storey building located at Baba Sahib Chowk caught fire in the wee hours on Friday.

The deceased has been identified as Paramjit Singh Pamma (50). A youth, Vir Singh (22), who used to work at a shop in the building, managed to escape in time. Due to congested streets and roads, the firemen faced trouble in dousing the fire. They had to reach out to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) authorities to use the water from the ‘Sarovar’ of Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai in the Golden Temple complex, for dousing the fire.

A short circuit is stated to be the reason behind the incident. Division B police station SHO Parduman Singh said that the fire erupted between 3.30 am and 4 am. He said that due to the presence of some plastic and flammable cosmetic material, the fire spread rapidly.

Vir managed to escape the inferno by jumping into a nearby building, but Pamma could not do that. A preliminary examination has revealed that he died due to asphyxia as a result of the toxic fumes, and his body was later charred in the fire.