A man, his daughter and his niece were burnt alive after a high-tension wire fell on them. The shocking incident took place on Sunday near Sonbarsa market area of Gorakhpur. The police on Sunday informed Shivraj Nishad (27), his daughter Aditi (2) and niece Anu (9) were riding on a motorcycle when an 11,000-volt power line snapped and fell on them. The tragic incident was caught on CCTV.
Vehicle caught fire
The CCTV footage shows the man and the two girls on a motorcycle and a wire fell on them when they taking a left close to a garbage dump. Within seconds, the bike caught fire and the man and the two children were burned to death and no one could rescue them. They died on spot. As per the police the three were returning home from Sonbarsa market after grocery shopping.
Inquiry begins
Ashutosh Srivastava, Chief Engineer of the Electricity Department, said preliminary investigations suggest a monkey may have jumped on the wire, causing it to snap and fall. An inquiry has been ordered to determine why the line did not trip after the wire broke.
As per the officials, when a high-tension wire touch the ground, it trips. However, in this case, the wire may have landed on the bike or a person, causing the automatic tripping mechanism to fail. A two-member team, including a superintending engineer and an executive engineer are investigating the incident and they will submit a report within 48 hours to fix accountability.
Shambhu Kumar, Managing Director of Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, assured financial aid of Rs 5 lakh each to the victims' families by Monday.
Maharashtra fire incident
In Maharashtra's Palgarh district a massive fire broke out on Sunday in a chemical factory in Boisar-Tarapur MIDC. The raging blaze at UK Aromatic and Chemical Company also engulfed an adjacent chemical unit in the Salwad Shivaji Nagar area. The Palghar fire control room received a call about the incident around 6:20 PM, following which a fire-fighting operation was launched immediately. Several fire engines and water tankers were dispatched to the spot to douse the blaze which is yet to be brought under control even after almost two hours.
(With PTU inputs)
