CHENNAI: A 15-year-old boy was charred to death after a thatched hut caught fire due to suspected electrical leak at Ooranampedu village near Kattur in Tiruvallur district on Monday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Srinivasan, studying in Class 10 at a government school in Thirumullaivoyal. He had been staying in the hut with his parents Munusamy and Muniamma, both daily wagers, younger sister Priyadharshini, a Class 8 student in the same school, and his grandmother.
The Kattur police said Srinivasan was alone at home when the fire accident happened. He had gone for a kabbadi match, organised as part of a temple festival, on Sunday evening, and had returned home only around 4 am on Monday.
As his parents along with his sister had gone to a relative’s place on Saturday to attend a family function, the boy had gone to sleep with his grandmother. Sources said at the time of the incident, the grandmother was at a place some one kilometre away to run some errands.
Srinivasan, who was sleeping inside the house, got trapped as the flames spread rapidly, and the thatched roof was covered by tarpaulin sheets.
After noticing the fire, the neighbours tried to douse it by pouring water. They also alerted the Fire and Rescue Services personnel, who later brought the fire under control.
By the time rescue services arrived, the hut was completely gutted.