TWELVE persons were killed and four others were injured in two fireincidents in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni and Katni districts during the Diwali festival, officials said on Monday. Among the deceased in Katni was a two-month-old infant, who died in his mother’s lap, a sight that moved onlookers to tears, eyewitnesses said. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav condoled the deaths and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased. A massive fire broke out in a three-storey building, which also housed a crockery shop, in the Barhi tehsil, in Katni extinguishing the lives of six members of a single family. Among the deceased are two young girls, including an innocent twomonth-old child uran Agrawal and Ritesh Agrawal own a crockery shop in Barhi, with their residence located on the floors above. Around midnight, a fire erupted in the three-storey structure, quickly escalating into a fierce blaze. Eight family members were asleep in the room upstairs.

 

On realising the presence of flames and smoke, Ritesh Agrawal and his sisterin-law managed to escape by shouting for help, thereby surviving. However, those sleeping in other rooms on the residential floor had no chance to react. Trapped amidst the fire and smoke, Puran Agrawal (77), his wife Chandrakala (74), their daughter-in-law Poonam, granddaughters Arya (14) and Anvi (6), and the two month old child all perished. The most tragic aspect of this harrowing incident is that the sound of a child, a long-awaited joy for the Agrawal family after 12 years, was silenced just two months later. The two month-old child breathed his last in his mother’s lap; perhaps, in her final moments, Poonam had held him close, desperately trying to shield him from clutches of death. Compounding the tragedy, the fire tender from the Barhi Municipal Council arrived at the scene an hour after the fire began, only to be rendered ineffective due to a faulty pipeline, which severely hindered firefighting efforts. Collector Ashish Tiwari also assured that accountability for the incident would be fixed.

 

Despite the Collector’s apology and assurances, the public’s anger did not subside, and they continued to raise slogans against the administration. When six biers were carried out simultaneously this morning, it brought tears to everyone’s eyes. A pall of gloom has descended over the entire town of Barhi. In Seoni, a fire broke out at the three-storey house of goldsmith Kundan Lal Soni in Mahavir Ward of Chhapara town in Seoni district around 3 am on Monday. The fire spread so rapidly that those inside didn’t even get a chance to escape. According to reports, around 10 people were present in the house at the time of the accident. All 10 were rescued during the rescue operation. However, doctors have confirmed the death of six of these people. Official information regarding the condition and injuries of the other victims is yet to be released. Seeing flames and smoke rising from the house early Monday morning, panic gripped the neighbourhood. Locals immediately began efforts to extinguish the fire and rescue those trapped inside. The police and fire departments were informed of the incident, and rescue teams subsequently arrived at the scene. Several ambulances, along with fire tenders, were deployed at the scene.

 

Due to the intensity of the fire, rescue teams had to struggle a lot to reach inside the house. At present, the actual cause of the fire has not been ascertained. Various suspicions are being expressed regarding the incident, but none has been officially confirmed. Police are inspecting the site and investigating the cause of the fire. The deceased have been identified as Kundan Lal Soni (75), Rajkumari Soni (65), Ritu Soni (42), Smriti Soni (40), Surya Soni (45), and Aditya Soni (16). Meanwhile, Amaira Soni (7), Ritesh Soni (45), Saurabh Soni (43), and Akarsh Soni (14) were rescued safely. The tragic death of six members of the same family has sent shockwaves through the region. SDOP, Apoorva Bhalavi said that six people have died in the fire incident. The cause of the fire is not known yet. Police are investigating the matter.