Purulia, February 22: Seven people, including two women and four children, of a family, were charred to death after a fire broke out inside their hut in the early hours of Friday. The incident took place in Mahadebpur village in West Bengal’s Purulia district. Four people of the family survived in the fire. The reason for the fire has not yet been ascertained.

“The incident took place after midnight. Four survived the fire but the other seven including four children, two women and one man died,” Biswajit Mondal, officer-in-charge, Para police station, told news agency IANS. Those who survived the fire were outside the hut. However, they received burn injuries when they rushed to save those trapped inside, the police said. Tamil Nadu: Fire at Cracker Factory in Tirunelveli, 6 Killed, 10 Injured.

“We think the disaster happened around 12:30-1am. Seven, including children, have died. We are not sure about the cause of the fire,” Akash Magharia, superintendent of Purulia district police, told another media house. The family was involved in extracting date palm juice and selling it, and lived in a thatched hut in a field.

It is suspected that the fire could have originated from an earthen lamp or a stove. The bodies were taken for post mortem and an investigation is underway, the police official added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 22, 2019 07:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).