Three die in house fire at Chhota Udepur village

TNN | Apr 24, 2020, 04:15 IST

The fire broke out due to a short-circuit on Wednesday

Vadodara: Three members of a family were charred to death after their house caught fire in Chhota Udepur district on Wednesday midnight.
According to locals, the fire broke out in the kutcha house of Devji Rathwa, a farmer living at Virpur village in Chhota Udepur, at around 11.30pm due to a short-circuit. Devji and his eldest daughter Sarita had gone to their farm to water their crops and his wife Asha (35), son Sumit (6) and youngest daughter Sonal (4) were asleep in their house.
As the entire house got engulfed in flames, villagers tried to douse the fire by sprinkling water. However, dousing the fire using buckets of water took lot of time and the trio succumbed to their injuries. Locals had also called fire brigade from Chhota Udepur town, which is 46 kilometres away. But due to lockdown and closure of roads, the fire engine could reach Virpur only after four hours.
Government officials reached the village on Thursday on learning about the incident. Taluka development officer M J Leuva said family members will be paid compensation for the loss of lives and their house.