Two West Bengal toddlers aged two and three, were charred to death in a fire started by a kerosene lamp inside their house late on Saturday night in the West Midnapore district.
“The two girls were sleeping in the shanty. Their parents had gone out after locking the door from outside. A fire broke out and the two sisters were charred to death before locals could rescue them,” said an official of the Daspur police station.
The father of the victims Tarun Santra said the fire started from a kerosene lamp kept by the children’s mother inside the shanty.
“It was entirely my fault. Had I not kept the lamp burning and gone to the theatre, my children would have been alive,” was all the mother could say, as she was crying inconsolably.
A local said that while the father of the children was not at home, the mother locked the door and went to watch a folk theatre performance in the village.
“When I saw the shanty on fire, I managed to break open the door. But by the time I brought the girls out, they were totally charred,” said Ashok Maity, the neighbour who first tried to rescue the infants.
{{/usCountry}}“When I saw the shanty on fire, I managed to break open the door. But by the time I brought the girls out, they were totally charred,” said Ashok Maity, the neighbour who first tried to rescue the infants.
{{/usCountry}}