LUCKNOW: A two-year-old boy was charred to death as afire broke out in a cluster of shanties behind Wave Cinemas under
Vibhutikhand police station on Sunday afternoon while his parents and other dwellers watched helplessly and could not save him. The district administration has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of the deceased boy.
Fire broke out in one dwelling around 3.30pm and spread to the shanties further. A strong breeze fanned the fire which soon engulfed over two dozen shanties with inmates running out leaving their belongings behind.
In the commotion, the two-year-old boy, Dev, was left behind in one of the shanties while his parents ran out with their other children.
“We left him behind unknowingly in hurry. The fire had taken a terrible form by the time I turned to enter the shanty to bring him out. My neighbours held me when I tried to walk into the raging fire to save Dev,” said a distraught
Mukesh, father of the deceased child.
“Mukesh started crying when he noticed that Dev was missing. It was too late by then. Dev was found charred when the fire was doused,” said
Neeraj, a neighbour.
Chief fire officer
AB Pandey said it appears that leakage from a cooking gas cylinder had caused the fire. The cylinder was being used at a tea stall being run from a shanty. Four fire tenders doused the fire in an hour, he said.
Around two dozen shanties were reduced to ashes