Father, son suffocate to death as fire engulfs house in Nawabshah

NAWABSHAH: A man died while trying to save his elderly father who also lost his life after both got stuck up in a room as fire engulfed their house and shoe shop in Daur town of district Nawabshah in Sindh.

According to reports, Parkash Kumar Rathore and his father Seth Srichand Rathore died of suffocation when the fire broke out due to electricity short circuit in their shoe shop on ground floor and quickly spread to their residence on the first floor of the building.

Around 20 members of the victims’ family, including women and children, were rescued by neighbours who rushed to the burning house after hearing screams and cries for help.

The locals could not reach Parkash, who had gone into the room of his elderly father to save him but did not come out alive due to thick fumes. The bodies were shifted to hospital.

Pakistan Hindu Council Hyderabad division coordinator Ramesh Kumar Rathore said that there were no fire tenders in the town to extinguish the fire. He said the neighbours helped the rest of family members to save their lives, many of whom had suffered burn injuries.

He said that two hours after the incident, untrained staff with a fire brigade came from Nawabshah but they were already too late as two precious lives were lost to the fire.

He criticised unavailability of fire brigade and rescue staff in the town .He said a couple died and many others suffered injuries in a similar fire incident in Hyderabad a couple of days back.

He urged authorities concerned to take serious notice of the incident and ensure that lifesaving services were available to all people in every town so that precious human lives could be saved in future.