Belagavi: Fire accident toll rises to six

The toll in the fire accident in Belagavi has risen to six, with two members of the family succumbing to burn injuries on Wednesday. “Gajanan Rajaram Damone, 60, and his son Roshan Gajanan died in a private hospital in the city.

The other victims, Sharada, Bharati, Priya and Ganga, died on the spot,” Police Commissioner Prakash Nikam confirmed on Wednesday. “A team of Scene of Crime officers and the mobile Forensic Science Laboratory has visited the site to collect samples.

Investigations have begun. The cause of the fire will be ascertained after their report is received,” the Commissioner told reporters in Belagavi. The police suspect that a refrigerator caught fire when a high-voltage current began flowing through a wire connected to it.

All the family members were trapped in the tin-sheet house and could not escape to safety. Meanwhile, Sanjay Narayan Damone, nephew of Gajanan, told investigators that Gajanan was a painter and had stored paints and chemicals in his one-room tin-sheet house.

Sanjay Damone, who lives in a tin shed next to the house, told investigators that the fire accident occurred at around 2 a.m. when all the family members were asleep. “We heard our relatives screaming and ran to help them.

But we could pull out only two persons. The rest were trapped in the raging fire. We then went out to call the Fire and Emergency Services personnel and the police,” he said.