Three children of a family burnt alive

Three minors — two boys and their sister — died when the room of a mud-house caught fire late Monday night at Gokina Talharh located near Daman-e-Koh on Margalla Hills, the police spokesman said.

All victims were under 10. Neither their parents nor villagers noticed the eruption of fire in the closed room, the villagers said.

Mohammad Akhlaq, son of Mohammad Banaras, resident of Gokina Talharh, told the Kohsar Police that he had three children — two sons Mohammad Attique, 10, Mohammad Aqeel, 8, and a five-year-old daughter Naeema Noor. He said that he was a labourer.

He said that his house was located a few hundred yards from the main Gokina Talharh village. He stated that he and his wife took all three children to their room in the mud-house after dinner and burnt wood in the hearth to keep them warm, as the weather was quite chilly.

The unfortunate father said that he and his wife went to their neighbour’s house after kids went to sleep, leaving the hearth burning. “When we came back at about 10 p.m., we found the room full of smoke and all three kids were dead,” Mohammad Akhlaq said.

He said that it was almost impossible to seek help from ‘Rescue-15’ as his village was on Margalla Hills and it was difficult to approach the village immediately. However, he rushed to his neighbours to seek help, but his children were already dead, he said. He added that the villagers informed police after midnight and they reached his house after half an hour and shifted the dead bodies to the hospital.

The Kohsar Police said that the fire erupted between 8 and 9 p.m. when the roof made of wood caught fire causing the tragedy.

The remains of the minors were handed over to the parents after external post-mortem as the dead bodies had completely scorched, sources in the hospital said.

The dead bodies were buried in the graveyard of Gokina Talharh. The Kohsar Police have taken up the case for inquiry, the police spokesman concluded.