#JUSTIN: Fire in Surat Kills Five Family Members, Including Child
Five family members, including a child, die in a Surat residential fire; investigation ongoing into cause.
A tragic fire in a residential building in the Limbayat area of Surat claimed the lives of five family members, including four women and a four-year-old child, on Tuesday morning, officials confirmed. The blaze broke out around 11 a.m. in the Mithi Khadi locality, engulfing a ground-plus-two-storey house and leaving the occupants with little chance to escape.
Initial reports indicate that the fire started on the ground floor, possibly due to a gas leak during cooking, and quickly spread throughout the house. Firefighters arrived shortly after being alerted and conducted rescue operations. All five occupants were found unconscious and rushed to a government hospital in Surat, where they were declared dead.
The deceased have been identified as Shehnaz Begum Ansari (65), Husa Begum Ansari (18), Shabina Ramzan Ansari (28), Parveen Abdul Kalam Ansari (19), and Subhan Ramzan Ansari (4). Police said the family was engaged in home-based saree work, storing large quantities of sarees, foam sheets, and other materials inside the house, which may have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.
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Inspector Chirag Dhokadiya noted that the presence of chemicals and oils used in the saree trade, along with foam sheets and other flammable materials, likely accelerated the blaze. “The fire broke out around 11 a.m. today. Five members of the family, including four women, have died. The family was involved in freelance saree work, and a large quantity of sarees was present at the spot,” he said.
Authorities have called a forensic science laboratory team to examine the scene. Preliminary investigations suggest that an electrical short circuit could have sparked the fire, igniting the highly flammable materials. Toxic smoke generated inside the confined space is believed to have caused suffocation, leaving the occupants unable to escape.
Firefighters from nearby stations eventually brought the fire under control after considerable effort. The bodies have been sent for postmortem, and officials are awaiting medical reports. Authorities have launched a detailed investigation to determine the exact cause of the tragic incident.
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