Katni (Madhya Pradesh): Six members of a family were killed after a fire broke out at a plastic goods and wholesale shop in the Barhi area of Madhya Pradesh's Katni district on Diwali night on Sunday, ANI reported. The blaze erupted at the shop on the ground floor of a three-storey building, trapping the family who lived on the upper floors.

Source: ANI via Apna MA TV

Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Virendra Narve said the shop belonged to Puran Lal Agrawal, with a plastic-related unit on the ground floor and the family's residence above it. The six victims were two elderly individuals, both around 70 years of age, one woman and three young children, he said.

Source: ANI via Apna MA TV

Hindi reporting by Zee News named the adults among the dead as 77-year-old Puran Agrawal, his wife Chandrakala and their daughter-in-law Poonam, and reported that the three children included a two-month-old infant. The children are not being named here.

Source: Zee News (Hindi)

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established. Narve said it was speculated that the blaze might have been triggered by a diya (earthen lamp) or perhaps a short circuit, but that the exact cause would only become clear following an investigation.

Source: ANI via Apna MA TV

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) official Vijayansh Chaudhary said the rescue operation had been underway for around five and a half hours, with the active phase lasting between three and a half and four hours, and confirmed that six bodies had been recovered. There was no active fire left, though smoke was still rising, he said.

Source: ANI via Apna MA TV

PTI also separately reported, citing officials, that six members of a family were killed after a fire erupted at a building in Katni district. Barhi was one of two Madhya Pradesh towns hit by a fatal family house fire that Diwali night — in Seoni district's Chhapara, a second blaze the same night also killed six members of a family.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld