Jharkhand: 3 members of family die of suffocation after fire breaks out

Dhanbad (Jharkhand), November 14

Three members of a family, including a six-year-old-girl, died of asphyxiation after allegedly inhaling toxic gases emanating from a major fire that broke out in some shops of a market in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at Kendua Bazar, around 170 km away from the state capital Ranchi, at 9.30 pm on Monday, he said.

The fire broke out at a cosmetic shop in a building, which spread out to the upper floor where shop owner Subhash Gupta was living with his family.

The people, who were killed in the incident, were identified as Subhash’s mother Uma Devi (70), sister Priyanka Gupta (37) and daughter Soumiya Gupta alias Mouli (6).

Deputy Superintendent of Police Arvind Kumar Binha, who was monitoring the rescue operation, said, “The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. An investigation is on to find out the reason.” The police, however, suspected that the fire could be due to a short circuit or burning of earthen lamps for the Diwali celebration.

The fire also affected six other adjacent shops, and goods worth several lakhs gutted, the police said.