RANCHI: At least four children were charred to death after a fire broke out in a haystack near their house at Gitilipi village under Jagannathpur police station limits in Chaibasa at around 11 am on Monday.
According to police, the children were playing near the haystack when the fire erupted. The exact cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.
According to villagers, a woman, Birang Gagarai, who had gone there to fetch water from the well near the place, saw the haystack catching fire where the children were also playing. She tried to take the children out of it, but it was too late by then as the flames were so intense that it was not possible to rescue them.
Villagers informed that children often used to play at the place where the incident took place. No one had thought that such an accident would ever take place. However, villagers are also discussing how the straw caught fire, they said.
The children who died in the accident include, Prince Chatar (5), Sahil Sinku (5), Rohit Sundi (2) and Bhumika Sundi (5). Sources said that the mother of two of the deceased children had gone to the forest. Arjun Chatar and Sukhram Sundi have gone to Bhubaneswar to work.
Chaibasa SP Ashutosh Shekhar said that when the fire broke out, the children were playing near the straw stack. “The exact cause of the fire is being ascertained. A team was sent to the spot for a detailed investigation of the incident,” said the SP.
Meanwhile, an investigation has been initiated in this regard to get into the details of the matter.