Mother, two children perish in house fire

In a tragic incident, a mother and her two minor children died in a fire at a house in Jamshed Quarters on Friday.

Police officials said the blaze broke out in the house on Jahangir Road apparently due to a short circuit. Upon hearing the hue and cry of the family, neighbours and other residents of the area attempted to extinguish the fire themselves before the arrival of fire tenders. The crowd managed to evacuate the victims and took them to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors pronounced them dead.

The victims were identified as 35-year-old Shumaila, wife of Junaid, her 11-year-old son, Sufiyan, and five-year-old daughter, Anisa. Police officials, quoting doctors, said that though the victims suffered burn injuries, all of them died of suffocation.

Police officials visited the house and inquired people about the incident. According to witnesses, the fire had been brought under control before the arrival of the fire tenders. Police officials said Shumaila’s husband was currently abroad for a job and he had been informed about the incident. She was living at her parent’s house in her husband’s absence.

Police officials said the woman lived on the first floor while her parents were living on the ground floor of the small house. Her family hailed from Hazara Division.