Woman charred to death as three houses catch fire near Vellore in TN

VELLORE: A 70-year-old woman was charred to death and her son sustained burn injuries when three thatched roof houses caught fire at Ranipet in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Friday.
Police identified the deceased as Santhi, who was a widow. Her son, Rajkumar, 35, who sustained burn injuries, was admitted to Government Vellore Medical College and Hospital.
Police said the fire broke out in one of the three houses around 1am due to an electrical short circuit and spread to the others. Santhi’s daughter, Suguna, and a relative, Vinoth Kumar, were living in the other two houses.
When fire caught their house, Santhi and Rajkumar tried to escape. But Santhi fell down while rushing out, and her sari caught fire .
Rajkumar, who tried to rescue his mother, suffered burn injuries.
Before fire and rescue service personnel reached the spot, all the three houses had turned into ashes.
The Ranipet police registered a case.