INDORE: A fire broke out in a two-storied building killing an elderly woman and her grandson in Neemuch town of Madhya Pradesh.
The victims,
Padma Devi Mittal
, 65, and
Arnav Mittal
, 13, were trapped on the second floor of the house on Dana Gali as fire broke out on the ground floor, where a sweet making unit was situated, Neemuch police said.
The fire broke out at around 5pm causing smoke to emanate from the sweet factory, they said, adding morning walkers Nimit Garg and Hemant Muchhal saw the smoke and informed the police and the fire brigade.
They tried to wake up the family members of the sweet unit owner Shyam Mittal, who were blinded by the smoke. Neighbours rushed to their rescue before the fire brigade arrived and got some people out of the building.
As panic spread, fire brigade reached the spot and pressed into action six fire tenders. A large consignment of ghee and other inflammable material was stored in the sweet manufacturing unit that stoked the flames.
Firemen gained control over the blaze in five hours. Bodies of Padma Devi and Arnav were later taken out of the building.
The fire also destroyed a sari shop adjacent to the sweets manufacturing unit. Goods worth lakhs of rupees were gutted in the fire.
Firemen claim that initial probe suggests that the cause of fire was a short circuit. But a probe was launched to ascertain the exact cause.