Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): Four persons were charred to death after a car fell into a culvert and caught fire in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district, police told news agency PTI on Monday, October 26.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld

Five youths were travelling in the car and were returning after darshan at the Sanwariya Seth temple when the vehicle went out of control — reports said a tyre burst — fell off the culvert and caught fire near the Sadalpura police station area. The fire spread within seconds, and four occupants, who were reportedly asleep, could not escape.

Source: Utkal Post

The fifth occupant managed to get out but suffered about 35–40 per cent burns and is in a critical condition. Civil Surgeon Dr Mukund Barman confirmed that four charred bodies were brought to the district hospital and that a 19-year-old with severe burns was referred to Indore for further treatment, Daily Kiran reported. One of the deceased was identified as Abhishek Solanki; the youths were around 20 years old and were relatives and friends, the report said.

Source: Daily Kiran

Locals who spotted the burning car alerted the fire department and the police, who reached the spot and put out the flames, but the four occupants had already died. Some reports attributed the rapid spread of the fire to the car's CNG fuel; police have registered a case and an investigation is underway, with post-mortems being conducted before the bodies are handed over to the families.