Power snapped due to unpaid bills, woman, 5 kids die in fire caused by candle
The family claims the power department had snapped supply to their Uttranchal Vihar Colony home due to unpaid bills after which they lit a candle that triggered the fire and burnt down household appliances.
Five minors and their 40-year-old aunt died, possibly due to asphyxiation caused by smoke, following a minor fire at their house in Ghaziabad’s Loni town, police said on Monday.
The family claims the power department had snapped supply to their Uttranchal Vihar Colony home due to unpaid bills after which they lit a candle that triggered the fire and burnt down household appliances. The authorities are, however, yet to confirm the cause.
The incident took place in a room on the ground floor of the building, which has two more floors and are occupied by the families of five brothers.
The victims were discovered by neighbours who broke open the door when they noticed thick smoke in the house.
“Generally I take all children along with my kids to school,” said Mohammad Sajid, a neighbour. “I did not see any activity in their house on Monday morning so I went there to wake them up. There was no response from inside. We broke open the door and found the six inside unconscious.”
“The police got a call around 9.15am,” said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural). “There was thick smoke that had blackened all the belongings as well the victims’ bodies.”
Police identified the victims as Parveen (40), brothers Abdul Aziz (8) and Abdul Ahad (5), and sisters Fatma (12), Saina (10) and Rukiya (8). Parveen was married to Yusuf Ali; the boys were sons of Yusuf Ali’s brother Rashid, and the girls were daughters of another of Yusuf Ali’s brothers, Asif Ali.
Yusuf Ali has two more brothers — Javed and Arif.
The family said a candle was lit in the room as there was no power. “The electricity connection was snapped on Saturday as the family had contested a bill of about ₹25,000-₹30,000, said Arif’s brother-in-law Mohsin Ahmad.
"They requested the department to wait till Monday to settle the bill. But they did not listen and snapped the connection. The children, who had their exams, had lit a candle, which they probably left burning on a plastic cooler. The candle burnt the cooler and a television, causing thick smoke in the room.”
The police suspect an electrical short-circuit caused the fire. The Ghaziabad district administration till Monday evening said in a statement that electrical safety department officials were probing the incident.
“The family had a pending bill of ₹25,000 for about five months. They had requested us not to disconnect supply on December 28 and we gave them one more day. They did not turn up at the camp on December 29 as well. So their connection was snapped,” said executive engineer Awdhesh Kumar from Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited (PVVNL).
“The cause of fire will be investigated by police. We are conducting a disconnection drive for those consumers who have more than ₹10,000 dues. The maximum default cases are in Loni,” said AK Rana, chief engineer of PVVNL.
The family said Yusuf and his brothers were not home at the time of the incident.
“There was no major fire. The thick smoke led to the deaths. The room and the bodies had traces of thick black carbon,” said Niyaz Mohammad, maternal uncle of two boys who died. “We do not suspect foul play. We told police not to conduct their post mortem. Other legal formalities have been taken up.”
The cops said a team of the forensic and field units was probing what actually triggered the fire.
“We will investigate more if it was caused by a candle or by a short circuit. It was not a major fire but the room had thick deposits of carbon all over. They all died in sleep after probably falling unconscious due to inhaling of toxic gases. The family has refused post mortem.” Jadaun said.
