By IANS,
Ranchi : Six children were burnt to death and two went missing in a fire in a village in Jharkhand’s Sahebganj district, police said Monday.
A woman was preparing snacks Sunday evening when the fire from her stove spread and burnt her hut in Ishak Tola village in Dahutola panchayat, about 550 km from here. The fire soon spread to nearby houses.
Police said only women and children were present in the village at the time of the accident. All the men had gone to a weekly market.
Although the women managed to escape, they couldn’t save their children. Six children of two families were burnt to death and two went missing. The dead children were aged between three and 12.
Police said the dead bodies were sent for postmortem Sunday night.
The district administration gave Rs.2,000 cash and 25 kg foodgrains to the families of the dead children.
Officials said an operation to remove the debris and trace the missing children has also been launched.