3 children charred to death as shanty catches fire

Three children of a family were charred to death after their shanty caught fire in Jind in Haryana, police said today.
Three others of the family, including the mother of the children, suffered serious burn injuries in the incident that took place after midnight last night, police said.
The family hails from Muzzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and some of its members were working as construction labourers in Jind, they said.
"Two girls and a boy died in the incident and they were four months, six years and four years old respectively. Three others, including the mother of the children, are in a serious condition and have been admitted at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak," Station House Officer, Police Station (City), Jind, Inspector Nar Singh said.

Singh said the father of the children was not in the house at the time of the incident.
"When a police team visited the spot we found a pedestal fan over there and short circuit could be one reason for the fire. We also found a mud stove there and a spark from it could have also caused the flames as the weather was windy. The family was in deep sleep and appeared to have got little chance to run to safety," he said.
He said police was still investigating the matter, but ruled out foul play for now.
"If anybody comes forward with any complaint indicating any foul play or if we get any such clue during the course of our investigation indicating this, we will take appropriate action," Singh added.