Darbhanga: A tragic fire incident claimed the life of a four-year-old boy and destroyed the homes of three brothers in Murli village under the Baheri Nagar Panchayat area late on Saturday night. The fire broke out around 10 pm and quickly spread, leaving three families devastated.
According to officials, the blaze began in the house of Lalit Mandal, son of late Ramvilas Pandey, and soon engulfed the adjacent homes of his brothers Ranjay Mandal and Sanjay Mandal. At the time of the incident, all family members were asleep. They woke up after feeling the intense heat and rushed outside to save themselves.
Lalit Mandal’s wife, Dali Devi, managed to escape with her seven-year-old son Vivek, but their younger child, Vishal Kumar (4), was trapped inside. By the time family members and neighbours tried to rescue him, the fire had intensified, making it impossible to enter the house. Vishal died in the incident.
Police station in-charge Suraj Kumar Gupta reached the spot, took custody of the body and sent it for post-mortem. Preliminary investigation suggests that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the electrical wiring.
Fire tenders from Baheda, Baheri and Darbhanga arrived after nearly an hour and brought the flames under control with the help of villagers. All three houses, made of asbestos sheets, bamboo and bricks, were completely gutted.
Following the incident, local MLA Prof Vinay Kumar Chaudhary, along with Circle Officer Dhanashree Bala, visited the affected families and distributed compensation within 12 hours. The families received immediate financial assistance, while Vishal’s family was provided ₹4 lakh as compensation.
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