Patna: Two young children were burnt alive after a sudden fire tore through a threshing yard in a village in Bihar’s Patna district on Saturday afternoon, police said. The incident occurred around 2:30 pm in Danada village under the Bhagwanganj police station area of Masaurhi, sending shockwaves through the local community.
According to family members, the children had been playing inside a small hut near the khalihaan, or threshing yard, when the blaze broke out. Relatives working nearby noticed smoke rising and rushed towards the spot, but the fire had already spread rapidly. By the time they reached the site, the children were trapped inside.
The victims were identified as Priyanshu Kumar, seven, and his three-year-old sister Mansi Kumari, both children of Vikas Kumar. Their father, overcome with grief, said he had been sitting some distance away when the fire started. “We did not realise when it began. When we saw smoke, we ran. We searched through the ashes and found them inside. If we had known earlier, we could have saved them,” he said.
Kumar said the family had returned to their village just two days earlier from a nearby area where the children had been staying with relatives for their studies. They had come home to complete Aadhaar card formalities while the adults worked in the fields.
Police reached the scene soon after being alerted and began an investigation into the cause of the fire. Sujit Kumar, the station house officer of Bhagwanganj police station, said: “Two children died in the incident. The cause of the fire is not yet known. We are examining all possible angles and further action is being taken.”
The deaths have left the village in mourning, with neighbours gathering at the family’s home to offer condolences. Authorities said efforts were under way to determine whether the fire was accidental or triggered by other factors.
