Three minor sisters burnt alive in Lahore

LAHORE: Three minor sisters were burnt alive when their one-room house caught fire here on the Zaildar Road, Ichhara, on Wednesday.

Four-year-old Khadeja, two-year-old Aliya and three-year-old Noor Fatima were caught in flames when a fire broke out in their house due to a short circuit. Police said the incident occurred at the residence of Muhammad Saleem, a mason by profession. The parents, Saleem and his wife Shabnam, were not home.

“It is a tragedy beyond description,” said a local Mazhar Khan. “All the dead were minor girls.” Another neighbour said: “There were at least three children in the house. It is just terrifying to think that something like this could happen. The victims’ parents are poor and both had gone out to earn their living.”

Some locals saw smoke billowing from the house. They banged on the door, shouted and that seemed to wake the children up. They tried to get into the house through the front door but it was locked. Risking their lives, they entered the house after breaking down the door and brought out the affected girls.

The first thing that struck the rescuers was the conspicuous absence of tap water in the area as most of the locals living there did not have water tanks or containers at their homes. Locals bought bottles of mineral water to douse the flames. By the time, the three innocent children were burnt alive.

Khadeja and Aliya were brought dead to the Services Hospital. Noor was first rushed to the Services Hospital and later removed to the Burns Unit, Mayo Hospital, but the hospital refused to facilitate the three-year-old Noor. She was rushed back to the Services Hospital where she died of her burns.

A local said that the fire broke out in the house at around 10:54am and they informed the 1122 Rescue at 11am. He said that the rescue teams reached the spot at 12:22pm. By that time, the girls had been pulled out of the house and rushed to hospital.

The locals strongly condemned the Rescue 1122 and said that despite making repeated calls, the rescuers did not reach the spot. They demanded of the higher authorities to look into the negligence of the Rescue 1122 and the doctors who did not accommodate the minor girl Noor, who had become a bone of contention between the two hospitals and subsequently succumbed to her burns.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has expressed deep grief over the death of three minor girls. According to a handout, he announced financial assistance of Rs500,000 for the bereaved family. He ordered an inquiry into the incident and appointed the DCO Lahore as the inquiry officer.