PHOTO: File
An entire colony comprising 45 houses was nearly reduced to ashes when a women set herself on fire after an argument with her husband.
The fire, which lasted for over two hours, also killed an elderly woman, Gulf News reported.
The incident took place at a colony located in the steel city of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand state on Thursday afternoon.
Lalita Lohar, 55, did not want her husband Sona Ram to attend office on Thursday, which was his weekly day off. Ram works in a company to support his extended family comprising nine members including his four children.
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Witnesses said shortly after the man returned home from work in the afternoon, his wife began quarrelling with him, asking him why he had gone to the office on his day off.
The altercation ultimately turned serious as the woman, in a fit of rage, doused herself with inflammable kerosene oil and set herself on fire.
Hearing her cries, her family members rushed to help but before they could get to her, the flames had spread to her thatched house.
The fire soon spread to other thatched houses, and soon after LPG gas cylinders in the houses — donated free to poor residents in the locality under the Prime Minister’s Ujjwala Yojna programme — soon caught fire and started exploding one after another.
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Witnesses said some four LPG cylinders exploded in the fire, aggravating the situation and reducing nearly the entire colony to ashes before the authorities rushed to the spot. Authorities said cash, electronic gadgets, beds, bikes and various other domestic items were burnt to ashes.
“Thursday was my weekly off but I went to the office after getting a call from my boss,” Sona Ram told reporters. “I never thought this small issue would result in such a serious tragedy. Now, I and my entire neighbours are homeless.”
Many residents have been left shaken after losing their homes and belongings in the incident.
One woman died in the incident after she got trapped in her burning house.
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