Fiery tragedy: Three burnt to death in house fire

HARIPUR: Three members of a family, including two children, were burnt alive when a fire broke out in their house in Khoee Nara village, police informed on Saturday.

Khanpur police said that Zaheer Hussain Shah, who lives in Rawalpindi due to work, rushed back home on receiving the news of the fire  incident. Shah said that his mother, Kubra Bibi, was sleeping in her room with her grandchildren 15-year-old Hira Bibi, and nine-year-old Mehdi Hassan, when a fire broke out sometime during the night and engulfed the entire house. The three had little chance to escape and were burnt alive.

Since the house is situated at some distance from the locality, locals only found out about the fire after spotting billowing smoke from their house. They rushed to douse the blazing flames.

They managed to recover the charred remains of the woman and the two children, which had been burnt beyond recognition, police and doctors said. Police believe that a short circuit could have sparked the fire. However, the police have started an investigation to ascertain the actual cause of the fire.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2016.