7 charred to death

Seven people - five members of a family and two of their relatives - were charred to death when a fire gutted their shanty in Purulia district early on Friday, police said.

One person, 35-year-old Kalipada Chowdhury, suffered burn injuries while trying to rescue those trapped inside the burning house located in the outskirts of Mahadebpur village under Para police station limits, Superintendent of Police Akash Magharia said.

Chowdhury's two daughters Ganga (6) and Radhika (5), son Rahul (5), wife Khusbu (27), brother-in-law Sunil (32) and two sister-in-laws Geeta (25) and Priyanka (12) were burnt to death in the blaze that destroyed the shanty constructed for preparing jaggery, he said.

The deceased were sleeping when the fire engulfed the shanty.

"According to preliminary reports, the fire broke out between 12:30 to 1 am. We are investigating into the cause of the fire," Magharia told PTI.

It was suspected that the fire was caused by a lamp that was burning inside the shanty.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination,