Brother-sister duo among 4 kids charred to death in West S’bhum

Jamshedpur: Four children, including a brother-sister duo, were charred to death when a haystack caught fire at Gitilipi village in Chaibasa of West Singhbhum district on Monday morning, police said.
The deceased were identified as siblings Rohit Sundi and Bhumika Sundi, Sahil Sinku and Prince Chatar, police added.
Area residents said a village woman, Birang Gagrai, discovered the children were on fire when she had gone to the site to dispose off domestic waste. She reportedly screamed for help while pulling out two children. Hearing her screams, other villagers rushed in for the rescue. They informed the local police.
SP Ashutosh Shekhar said, "The children, all aged between two and five years, were playing in the field located about 15 metres away from their house under the Jagannathpur police station limits when the pile of straw stacked nearby caught fire. What triggered the fire and how the children came in contact with it would be investigated. The possibility of the fire being triggered by a cigarette or bidi stub cannot be ruled out."
"A five-member team has been formed to probe the case. The team, consisting of the Jagannathpur sub-divisional officer, sub-divisional police officer, circle officer, and civil surgeon, would be led by additional judicial commissioner (ADC)," the SP said.
The bodies were sent to the Chakradharpur Sadar Hospital for post-mortem.
On 23 March 2021, two three-year-old kids were burnt alive in a similar condition at Asura village.