Two siblings among 3 charred to death in East Champaran fire

Motihari: Three people, including two siblings aged eight and 10, died in a fire that broke out in their house-cum-shop in East Champaran district late Friday night.

The incident occurred in a three-storey pucca building that housed a wholesale general store on the ground floor and the family’s residence on the upper floors at Barharawa Fatemohammad village under Kundawa-Chainpur police station area in the district. Two children and a salesman were burned alive in the incident. The flames were so intense that the people sleeping inside did not get any chance to escape.

According to police sources, Raj Kumar Sah had recently built the large house to run a general store-cum-residence. He, along with his children and salesman, was asleep when the blaze erupted late at night and quickly engulfed the entire building. The store rooms were packed with groceries, plastic items, cosmetics and other flammable materials, causing the fire to spread rapidly.

Raj Kumar jumped from the second floor to save his life, but his son Rudra, 8, daughter Shristi, 10, and salesman Prince Kumar, 28, were trapped inside a room and charred to death.

The flames and thick smoke triggered panic across the village as residents rushed to the spot to help. After receiving information about the incident, three fire engines reached the village and launched a firefighting operation. Fire brigade teams battled the blaze for nearly six hours before bringing it under control.

However, by then, all the goods and household items inside the building had been reduced to ashes.

Sikrahana SDPO Uday Shankar said the fire was suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit.