ROURKELA: In a tragic incident, a 12-year-old boy was charred to death after a fire broke out in the enclosure of a Durga puja mandap at Telephone Bhawan within Sector 7 police limits here on Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Badal Maharana of the nearby Bangali Basti of Sector 6.
Sources said bamboos, clothes and other decorative items were stored at the Durga puja mandap which has an enclosure made of 12 feet height iron grills from all sides with a tin roof.
Badal along with three of his friends entered the mandap through the gap between the tin roof and the grills. At around 2 pm, the items stored inside the enclosure suddenly caught fire. While the three children managed to escape, Badal failed to scale the iron grills. He got trapped inside and was burnt alive.
As the mandap is located along the busy ring road, locals immediately noticed the fire and raised an alarm. Within no time, police and fire services personnel rushed to the spot. But by the time, the fire was extinguished and the grill gate opened, the boy was already charred to death.
Additional SP PS Nayak said the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and it appears to be an accidental death. Preliminary investigation revealed that children of the nearby slum frequently entered the mandap to play and and spend their leisure time.
“The three other children have gone into hiding in panic after surviving the fire. After counselling, they would be questioned to ascertain the cause of the fire and and the circumstances leading to the mishap,” he said.
An unnatural death case has been registered in Sector 7 police station and the deceased’s body will be sent to the hospital for autopsy, Nayak added.
