Man killed as fire breaks out in Shimla village

A 38-year-old man was killed and two others injured in a fire at a village in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district on Wednesday, police said. The fire broke out at Sistwari village near Chirgaon around 3:30 am, the Rohru Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sunil Negi said.

Vikas Dhontu was killed whereas 80-year-old Sukhchain and his 40-nine-year-old son Surendra suffered burn injuries, he said. The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Rohru.

A temple and eight houses were gutted in the fire, he said adding that two houses were partially burnt. Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze has been brought under control.

This is the third incident of fire in Chirgaon area in three days. An 80-year-old woman was killed when a fire broke out in the area on Monday. While the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the Rohru SDPO advised people to properly switch off heaters and other electric appliances, and turn off LPG gas cylinders before going to sleep.  He also requested them not to keep flammable products at home and to keep on checking electric points and wires at regular intervals to avoid fire incidents. PTI DJI ANB ANB