Oil lamp left overnight sparks deadly fire in MP’s Katni, kills 6 of family including infant

An earthen lamp left lit overnight triggered a massive blaze inside a three-storey house in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district early Monday, killing six members of a family, including a two-month-old infant.

A second fire broke out in a gold trader’s house in Seoni district 250km away, killing six members of his family, bringing the overnight death toll across the two districts to 12.

The fire in Katni’s Barhi town killed six people across three generations, including 77-year-old Puran Agrawal, his wife Chandrakala, daughter-in-law Poonam, and granddaughters Arya (14), Anvi (6), and the infant.

The infant died in his mother’s arms, a PTI report said, citing witnesses.

The ground floor of the three-storey house served as a crockery shop. The fire started in the upper floors where the family lived. “Preliminary investigation and survivors informed that a fire started from an earthen lamp kept near a coffee machine and later spread quickly through the house,” Katni superintendent of police (SP) Abhinav Vishwakarma said.

The flames spread rapidly through the commercial-cum-residential structure. Only two people escaped the blaze, Katni collector Ashish Tiwari said.

He said information about the fire was received around 12:30 am and the first fire engines arrived at the scene by 12:45 am. “Subsequently, additional fire tenders were called in; a request reached the control room around 1:30 am, leading to the arrival of further firefighting units,” Tiwari said, according to news agency ANI.

“Everyone present, especially the local residents and the youth, made significant efforts to contain the blaze. Unfortunately, the fire could not be brought under control, partly because the crockery materials stored on the lower floor were highly flammable. Once the fire was partially brought under control, walls were broken through to rescue those trapped inside. By 5:00 am, the SDRF team also arrived with their full contingent,” he said.

Relatives of the victims, however, insisted that the first fire engine from Barhi Municipal Council arrived an hour late and could not start operations because its hose was damaged.

“Another fire tender from Vijayraghavgarh arrived an hour and a half later, but it too had a faulty hose. Fire tenders were later called from Kaimore and Katni, and the firefighting and rescue operation continued till morning with the help of local youths,” said a relative.

Seoni house fire

At 4:30 am, a second fire broke out in the three-storey home of a gold merchant, Kundan Lal Soni, in Chhapara town in Seoni district. Six of the 10 family members inside died, including the 75-year-old gold trader, his wife, two daughters-in-law, a relative, and a 16-year-old grandson. Four residents were rescued.

Police said six people died due to smoke inhalation and burns. The deceased were identified as Kundan Lal Soni (75), his wife Rajkumari Soni (65), daughters-in-law Ritu Soni (42) and Smriti Soni (40), relative Surya Soni (45), and grandson Aditya Soni (16).

Chhapara sub-divisional police officer Apoorv Bhalavi said it took firefighters several hours to bring the fire under control. Soni’s neighbours tried to fight the flames using water buckets before firefighters arrived. Police said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined.