DIBRUGARH, Oct 19 - Five persons, including two minors, were killed in a devastating fire that broke out at around 1 am today near the APDCL office at Niz Kodomoni here. Among the five deceased, four were family members of Krishna Bahadur Sonar, a watchman engaged with the APDCL.
The deceased have been identified as Maya Devi Sonar (42), Vishal Sonar (22), Sibu Sonar (4), Ankit Sonar (3) and one Nunu Ekka (35). Maya Devi Sonar was the wife of Krishna Bahadur Sonar while Vishal Sonar was his son, and Sibu and Ankit were his grandchildren. Nunu Ekka, a daily wage-earner used to reportedly spend his night sleeping at one corner of Krishna Bahadur Sonar�s house. The bodies were burnt beyond recognition.
Mohan Thapa, who also lost his house and all his belongings in the blaze, told this correspondent that the fire originated from the house of Krishna Bahadur Sonar. The fire probably contacted the cooking gas cylinder of Sonar, which actually triggered a blast and the fire quickly spread to his house and that of Raju Raut nearby.
�We woke up to the hue and cry from Sonar�s house. We could see the flames touching our house. I quickly helped my family members get out of the house. I then quickly threw away my cooking gas cylinder into a ditch nearby. The moment I got out of my house, the blast of the cooking gas cylinder of Sonar�s house was heard. The fire turned more devastating after the blast and it quickly engulfed the three houses there,� Thapa said.
Thapa is a driver and also an agent of Sahara India. He showed to this correspondent the burnt remains of the washing machine, refrigerator, furniture, utensils, documents and the books of his children. Similarly, Raju Raut and Krishna Bahadur Sonar also lost all their household items.
The houses were basically made of bamboo and timber with tin roofs. The fire totally destroyed the houses when the fire tenders arrived at the scene, the neighbours said. Local MLA Prasanta Phukan, police and few government officials visited the site of the incident.
