Bhopal, March 30 In a tragic incident, a 'Divyang' (differently-abled person) was charred to death in Itarsi town of Narmadapuram district (formerly known as Hoshangabad) in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.
Rajput, who had lost his legs, was unable to escape when his home caught fire, resulting in him being trapped and ultimately losing his life.
Itarsi is a prominent Railway junction in Madhya Pradesh.
Itarsi police station in-charge Gaurav Singh Bundela told IANS that the fire broke out between 3.30 and 4.00 a.m. in the Nehruganj area.
Preliminary investigations indicate that a short circuit may have sparked the fire in Rajput's kuchcha house.
Within minutes, the flames spread rapidly to two nearby houses in the locality. Although the occupants of surrounding houses, including his family, managed to escape, Rajput couldn't be evacuated to safety as the fire quickly engulfed the room where he was sleeping.
On call, the emergency teams responded quickly with approximately 20 fire brigade vehicles from Itarsi, Hoshangabad, and the Ordnance Factory reaching the spot to control the fire, the police officer said.
Despite their efforts, it took more than three hours to bring the fire completely under control.
The rapid spread of flames caused extensive damage to neighbouring properties, including the houses of advocate Ravi Savadkar and Ajay Gangrade, reducing all household goods to ashes and marking a severe material loss.
"No other human life was lost in the incident, nor anyone injured, as all of the occupants escaped timely," the officer said.
The victim Rajput, as his family told the police, was sleeping. Rajput cried for help, but before his wife and two daughters could reach, the fire engulfed his room.
The body of the victim has been sent for post-mortem, and further investigation has been initiated to ascertain the exact cause of the fire, the police officer said.
This is the second fatal fire incident in Madhya Pradesh in recent times, following an earlier incident in Singrauli where a bus cleaner lost his life when a fire, reportedly started by a mosquito repellent coil, engulfed a bus parked next to it.
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