At least 14 people, including women and children, were killed and several injured, after a major fire broke out in a multi-storey building in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district on Tuesday evening. The blaze occurred at 6 PM on the second floor of Ashirwad Tower in Dhanbad’s Joraphatak area, reported PTI.
A police official said that a total of 10 women and three children were killed in the fire. Around 15 fire tenders were pressed into service to bring the fire under control.
Officer-in-Charge of Bank More Police Station P K Singh said preliminary reports suggested that a curtain caught fire from the flames of an earthen lamp in one of the flats of the building.
Speaking about the incident, a victim told ANI that they were preparing for a wedding when they saw fire, and were rescued by police later.
“We were getting ready for my niece’s wedding when we saw smoke entering the room. My brother-in-law told us that fire has broken out. We were on fourth floor and tried to go downstairs but felt suffocated due to smoke so we went to the terrace. Police came and rescued us,” she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his anguish at the loss of lives, and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, PM Modi said in a tweet.
Governor Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister Hemant Soren also expressed their grief over the incident.
“The death of people due to the fire in Dhanbad is extremely heart-wrenching. The district administration is working on a war footing and treatment is being provided to the injured. I am personally monitoring it,” CM Soren said in a tweet.