Elderly couple burnt to death in house fire in UP's Hathras, short circuit suspected

An elderly couple, in their sixties, died in the wee hours of Thursday when a fire engulfed the house they were in at Mohalla Kahran within the limits of Sadabad police station in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district.

The incident occurred at 2 am, when the couple, identified as 65-year-old Sahjad and his wife, 62-year-old Salma, were asleep and unable to move after the fire spread through the house. The blaze was suspected to have been caused by a short circuit.

Hathras Superintendent of Police (SP) Chiranjeev Nath Sinha said the couple were alone when the incident occurred at the house, which also had a clothes shop.

“Fire tenders were called in, and the fire was doused after efforts made with support of locals and police on the spot. Two died in the fire, and dead bodies were sent for post-mortem and legal compliance,” Sinha said.

The cause

A prima facie short circuit caused the fire, and a stockpile of clothes ahead of the festival of Diwali exacerbated it, the police official said.

Neighbours noticed the fire after flames and thick smoke rose from the house and alerted the police and fire brigade. A team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) also joined the operation.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control after nearly two hours of effort.

The couple lived with the family of one of their four sons, but the others were not present when the tragic incident took place, and the deceased were alone in the house and could not move out of the house as it caught fire.