CHINIOT - At least five children, three girls and two boys, were burnt alive when a fire engulfed a house located at Chak No 648 Danagaran village near here on Wednesday.
The children were playing in a room of the house of one Jaffar Ali, where husk had been stocked for animals. One of the children lit a matchstick due to which the husk caught fire. The children could not come out and were burnt alive in the room.
Rescue 1122 fire brigade controlled the fire after hectic efforts of one hour. The bodies of the children were shifted to the DHQ hospital and handed over to their heirs after autopsy. Chiniot DCO Dr Irshad Ahmad; DPO Munir Zia and other administration officials reached the spot.
The Rescue sources said one child was still missing and search for him was underway.
They added the intense blaze engulfed the room within minutes, so the children could not save their lives. The family members and neighbors came to their rescue, but it was too late. “Anyone of them might have lit a matchstick which triggered the fire in the husk stock,” a police official said.The deceased were three siblings – two brothers and their sister – Chand Ali, 4, Abu Bakar, 5, Bushra and 10 – and their two relatives, Sidra, 6, and Amina, 3.