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18-month-old girl charred to death in Dera Bassi hutment fire
Child ran inside her hutment for safety on noticing the clamour, body found clinging to gutted cot; illegal hutments located on shamlat land in Sundra village, Dera Bassi
An 18-month-old girl was charred to death after a fire broke out in around 40 illegal hutments on shamlat land in Sundra village, Dera Bassi, on Saturday.
Fire officer Baljit Singh said mostly children were present in the area while their parents were away at work, when the fire broke out around 5.30 pm.
Alarmed by the clamour, the victim, Roopa, ran inside her hutment to save herself. Later her charred body was found clinging to a gutted cot. Her parents, Ramvir and Chandani, who hail from Uttar Pradesh, were not home.
Amid the melee to escape to safety, the neighbours did not see the toddler running into her hutment. By the time they realised the child was trapped in the structure, it was engulfed in a blaze, making her rescue impossible.
Five fire tenders – two from Dera Bassi and three from Panchkula – were pressed into service to douse the fire that took around three hours.
Police said the hutments had come up illegally on shamlat land along the river over the last 25 years. The families here are mostly migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh and work in the fields and factories close by.
Dera Bassi MLA Kuljeet Singh Randhawa reached the spot and issued instructions to the tehsildar to arrange food and shelter for the families who lost their homes. He also demanded compensation from the administration.
Stubble burning in nearby field suspected cause of fire
Fire officials said preliminary investigation suggested that a spark from a fire in the nearby fields led to the blaze in the hutments.
“A farmer, Jeet Singh, set stubble on fire in his field close by and owing to the heat, the flames quickly spread towards the hutments. After starting the fire, he had left the spot,” said fire officer Baljit Singh.
“We are recording statements of the parents and will book the accused, Jeet Singh, under relevant sections,” said Jaskanwal Sekhon, station house officer (SHO), Dera Bassi.
