A five-year-old boy was charred to death in a fire in a group of slum-dwellings in Basantpur village of the district, police said today.
According to police, in the mishap which occurred in the evening yesterday, the boy's father sustained severe burns while almost 18 huts were completely destroyed in the fire.
No other injuries were reported, police added.
According to a resident of the hutment, the fire was caused by strong winds blowing last evening which caused some sparks flying from a clay oven to ignite the dwellings made of straw and dry material.
Within minutes, the entire group of huts had caught fire with the victim boy caught inside one of the dwellings.
Although fire brigade was alerted, the locals claimed that the huts had all been gutted by the time the fire brigades arrived.
