Infant burnt to death in house fire

KARACHI: An 8-month-old boy was burned to death after a fire broke out inside a room on the second floor of a double-story house in North Karachi on Monday.

A fire tender arrived at the spot from the Sohrab Goth fire station after receiving information about the incident. It took the firefighters 45 minutes to douse the blaze, but the infant had already died.

Fire department officials said that the baby was identified as 8-month-old Abdul Rehman. They added that only the baby's uncle, Abdul Hannan, was present at the house when the incident took place. The firefighting staff shifted the body to a hospital.

According to Khawaja Ajmer Nagri SHO Nadeem Siddiqui, the police had not received any complaint regarding the incident; he said they only found out when they arrived at the house later. He said that Rehman's mother had left him asleep on the bed.

Initial investigations indicate that the blaze erupted as a result of a short circuit. The family has refused to carry out any legal procedures.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2020.