6 minors killed in house blaze in UP

Bareilly (UP), April 29

Six members of a family, all minors, were killed when a fire broke out in their house here early this morning, police said.

Among the victims were four sisters and their two cousins. There were no elders in the house as the parents of the four sisters -- Raju Kashyap and his wife -- had gone to Pilibhit to attend a wedding function, they added.

The incident occurred near Kali Dham temple in cantonment area under Quila police station, City SP Samir Saurah said, adding the bodies have been sent for postmortem.

The house apparently caught fire when the inmates forgot to put off a candle and went to sleep, police said. When people saw smoke and flames coming out from the house, they broke open the door and found that the thatched roof had collapsed.

Six bodies had been retrieved from the house, Fire officer Radhey Shyam said.

The deceased were identified as -- Saloni (17), Sanjana (15), Bhuri (10), Durga (8) -- all sisters, and their cousins Mahima (9) and Debu (7). —PTI