Dharmagarh: In a shocking incident, as many as three persons including a woman and her two minor children were charred to death in suspected LPG cylinder blast at Thanata village under Dharmagarh block in Kalahandi district early Wednesday morning.
The deceased have been identified as Champa Meher (40), wife of a book vendor Ajit Meher and her daughter Sunita Meher (10) and son Amit Meher (5).
They were suspected to have been killed in LPG cylinder blast when Champa was cooking food for the family. The woman and her two children failed to come out of the house and were charred to death on the spot.
Her husband Ajit and elder daughter Kulita Meher had a providential escape. While Ajit had gone outside on work, daughter Kulita had gone to the nearby pond in the village pond. All their belongings including valuables worth lakhs of rupees like electrical and electronic appliances, rations, gadgets and many important documents were burnt in the fire.
The locals rushed to the spot on noticing the flames and tried to rescue the three, but in vain.
The intensity of the explosion was so high that the whole house was completely damaged. Locals alerted the fire brigade personnel who rushed to the spot and doused the flames before it could spread to other houses in the neighbourhood.
The incident has spread shockwaves in the area. Police seized the bodies and sent it for post-mortem. A case of unnatural death was registered and a probe was on. The fire tender team was busy extinguishing the flames when reports last came in. Dharmagarh tehsildar Tanmaya Kumar Darwan also reached the spot and conducted an enquiry into the matter.
When contacted police IIC Damu Paraja said a probe is on and the exact reason behind the inferno is yet to be ascertained. Sarpanch D Kishore said that the bereaved family will be provided with financial assistance as per government norms.
Close shave for woman
Boinda: A woman had a close shave after her sister-in-law tried to set her ablaze over a domestic dispute at Karadabahali village under Thakurgad police limits in Angul district Tuesday. Police registered a case over a complaint by Nirash Parida and started an investigation. Police said the two women Nirash and Jyotshnarani were not on good terms and always fought over petty issues. The incident occurred when Jyotshnarani tried set Nirash on fire as she was cooking at home.
PNN