Father, 2 children charred in suspected fridge blast
Mumbai, Jan. 11 -- A father and his two children were charred to death as a house in Goregaon caught fire early on Saturday. Fire brigade officials suspect that the blaze may have been triggered by a blast in a refrigerator that had not been working for over two weeks.
According to the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), the fire was first reported at 3:06 am at Bhagat Singh Nagar No. 2, near Link Road in Goregaon (West). The victims were later identified as rickshaw driver Sanjog Pawaskar, 48, his daughter Harshada, 19, and his son Kushal, 12. The three were sleeping on the upper floor when the fire started, and they got trapped inside as the iron staircase, their only exit, was not accessible.
Pawaskar's wife, Seema, survived as she was on night duty at the time. Their other daughter, Divya, a Class XI student, was also saved as she was studying at her maternal aunt's house nearby.
Heena Khan, the deceased children's maternal aunt said that the neighbours took some time to respond to the tragedy. "When they heard shouts from the victims, people refused to step out assuming it was some family fight." Khan said that when the shouts persisted then people stepped out and called her and she rushed to check. "One of the first things we did was to disconnect the electricity metre connections to stop the fire from spreading," explained Khan. Fire brigade officials said the blaze had already been doused by residents before they arrived.
On Saturday afternoon when electricians from Adani Energy inspected the area, the walls of the houses continued to emit electricity shocks forcing the electric supply officials to re-check the entire distribution network. Locals said the entire locality has exposed wiring, with electrical wires hanging above. Some dark and narrow lanes even have wires dangling on both sides. "It common to walk through the alley with wires hanging from both sides. One can feel the shock during the monsoons," said Dinesh Kharwa, a local resident....
To read the full article or to get the complete feed from this publication, please
Contact Us.