Jalna: Three children, aged eight, six and three, were charred to death on Monday morning, as they were playing ‘house-house’ in a cowshed, in Kshirsagar village in Bhokardan taluka, Jalna, said police. The unsupervised tots may have lit a fire to warm themselves, which went out of control, fatally choking the trio. Fire brigade sources said the blaze may have started from a bonfire lit near the cowshed.
As the fire began spreading due to heavy winds, the children ran out of the shed to take shelter in the neighbouring cowshed. But there was a haystack by the door of this shed, which also caught fire as the conflagration spread. The children found themselves trapped in the middle of the cattle shed, as the haystack was unfortunately right near the door – the only entry and exit point to the shed.