Kushinagar, May 11 (IANS) Seven members of a family were burnt to death after a massive fire engulfed their entire house in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district.
The victims comprised four minor girls, their mother and grandparents.
While the woman and four of her daughters died on the spot, her eldest daughter (8) was rescued by the police.
The elderly couple, who were rushed to a local hospital in a critical condition, succumbed to their burn injuries during treatment.
The cause behind the fire is yet to be ascertained but locals said that the clay oven was not properly doused after preparing food.
Raging flames triggered panic among villagers, who informed firefighters.
According to locals, firefighters did not reach the spot in time.
However, Kushinagar District MagistrateRamesh Ranjan, along with SP Dhawal Jaiswal, rushed to the spot.
Senior police officials supervised the rescue operation.
Taking cognisance of the tragedy, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia for each of the deceased, which will be given to the next of kin.
He directed the officials to provide all assistance to members of the family.
According to SP Dhawal Jaiswal, an inquiry had been initiated to identify the reason behind the fire.
Officials said that the father, Shohrat, is an auto driver.
He was in the market when the incident took place.
According to Shohrat, flames trapped his family members and prevented their way out.
Her statement comes after she was dragged by a man when she had gone for an inspection at AIIMS in the early hours of January 19. The man had started making lewd and vulgar gestures towards Maliwal and she was reprimanding him when he asked her to sit in his car, the man suddenly pulled the car glass up and hand of Maliwal got stuck in car's window,
The incident occurred on November 26 last year when the drunk passenger allegedly urinated on a co-passenger in her 70s in the business class of an Air India flight from New York to Delhi. Aviation regulator DGCA on January 5 had said that the conduct of Air India was unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.
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Last year in June, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging a clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
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