Three inmates, including two girls, of an unauthorised children's home here sustained serious burn injuries when they accidentally came in contact with a live electric wire, police said.
One of the girl touched the live wire, while the other two inmates were injured in their bid to save her yesterday at Grace India Children Home located at Phulbani town, Rasmita Karan, the District Child Welfare Office, Kandhamal, said.
The victims were two teenage siblings from Daringbadi and a class 10 girl student, Karan said.
The authorities of the home admitted the injured students to the district headquarters hospital.
One of them sustained 80 per cent burns and was stated to be critical, while the other two bore 50 per cent burn injuries, doctors attending on them said, adding they were shifted to a private hospital at Bhubaneswar.
Karan said among the 28 children staying in the home, four were orphans.
"The institution is being run illegally since 10 years. We have served a closure notice to the institution long ago," Karan said.
