BETTIAH, Dec. 27 -- An elderly woman and three children died of asphyxiation, while four others fell unconscious after allegedly inhaling toxic gas emanating from a bonfire at a village in Bihar's Saran district late on Friday night, police said.

In a separate incident, a 75-year-old man and a cow were charred to death at Madhubani village under the Phenhara police station area of East Champaran district after his hut caught fire due to a bonfire.

In Saran, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and newly promoted Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dr Kumar Ashish said the victims were sleeping in a room close to a bonfire at Ambika Bhawani Colony under the Bhagwanpur Bazaar police station area on Friday night.

"Prima facie, it appears that...