DEHRADUN: A woman and her six-year-old son were charred to death and around 50 slums were gutted in a forest fire in Nainital district, police said today.
Rita (40) and her six-year-old son Asnand were burnt alive as the fire near Gaula river swept at least 50 slums inhabited by mining labourers, Lalkuan police station in-charge Vipin Chandra Pant said.
The woman, a labourer from Jharkhand, who had gone to work, leaving her child sleeping at home saw flames emanating from the slum cluster at Motahandu where she lived.
By the time she rushed to her slum, her son had already been charred to death. The flames also engulfed her, burning her alive, he said.
It took police personnel about three hours to douse the fire. At least 50 slums at Motahaldu near Gaulagate were destroyed by it, he said.
At least 15 incidents of forest fire were reported from different parts of Nainital yesterday, he said, adding no casualties were reported from anywhere else.