Bhadrak: A woman was charred to death and her minor daughter sustained grievous burn injuries Saturday night while sleeping after a massive fire engulfed their house in Bhadrak district.
According to a source, the incident took place at Mahala Sahi village under Banitia panchayat in the district. The inferno erupted from an unknown source when the mother and daughter duo was asleep.
Hearing the screams of neighbours, the minor girl suddenly woke up and managed to escape the blaze by coming out of the burning house. The woman got trapped as a burning portion of the house fell on her and she could not be saved, an eyewitness said.
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Mahala Sahi villagers strived for over an hour and doused the flames. Intensity of the inferno was so high that the house was reduced to ashes within a short while. Later, the villagers rescued the woman, but she was no more by that time, the eyewitness added.
The villagers immediately sent the critically injured minor to a nearby hospital for treatment. Exact cause of the fire mishap has not been ascertained yet.
PNN