Karnal, June 1: A woman and two daughters were burnt alive after a building in the Ram Nagar area caught fire on Thursday morning. The fire was so severe that the entire building was gutted and the three victims charred to death in a flash.
The victims have been identified as Pooja (28), Pari (5) and Suhana (7). Pooja’s husband Raj Kumar is a sanitation worker with the Karnal Municipal Corporation. The family were tenants on the first floor of the building that had a sofa-manufacturing unit on the ground floor.
Members of another family were extricated after breaking open a wall. Kuldeep’s family, putting up in a room on the first floor, were rescued with the promptness of residents, police and firefighters.
The reason behind the fire was not clear yet, but preliminary investigation suggested a short-circuit at the sofa-manufacturing unit. The firefighters rushed the three victims to Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College and Hospital, where they were declared brought dead.
Residents said the fire broke out at the sofa-manufacturing unit and spread to the entire building within a few minutes. The residents tried to douse the flames but were not able to save the three victims.
DSP Raj Kumar reached the spot and supervised the operation. SDM Narinder Kumar Malik visited the hospital and assured justice to the grieving family members.
SHO Mohan Lal said a case was registered against Rakesh Kumar, owner of the sofa-manufacturing unit, and Virbhan Singh, owner of the building. No arrest had been made so far.
