At least 14 people, including three children, have been killed in a huge fire in a high-rise residential building in India’s Jharkhand, Hindustan Times reported quoting chief secretary Sukhdev Singh.
Police said 16 people were injured in the blaze which started at Aashirwad Towers in Dhanbad’s Jodaphatak area on Tuesday evening.
The fire was doused after several hours. Authorities are yet to determine the cause of the fire, reports Reuters.
“The death toll is 14 at present and 11 people are under treatment. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained,” Singh told PTI news agency.
The dead victims include 10 women, one man and three children.
The 10-storey Aashirwad Towers, located in one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city, consists of around 100 flats, according to reports from the Indian media.
The fire erupted on the second floor of the building late in the evening, trapping several residents. A rescue team from Bharat Coking Coal Limited joined rescue efforts with the local firefighters.
Dhanbad Senior Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar said they are working to determine the exact number of fatalities, Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.
The incident comes three days after five people, including a doctor couple, died in a fire at Hazra hospital in Dhanbad.