08 December 2004	Wednesday	25 Shawwal 1425

HYDERABAD, Dec 7: Four children burned to death in two separate incidents of fire in the city and Latifabad here on Tuesday. Three children of Kamran Yousuf zai were killed when a fire engulfed a room in the upper storey of his house in the Hirabad locality.

Residents said the mother of the children had gone to pick up her son, Rehan, 5, from a nearby school, locking one-year-old Dua, two-and-half-year-old Osama and four-year-old Rehman in the room as she expected to return soon. The father of the children, who is a pharmaceutical company employee, had gone to Badin.

It is said that the woman had left something on a stove in the room for cooking. When the fire broke out, people of the area broke open the room door to rescue the children only to find their charred bodies.

The fire brigade was informed and when fire tenders reached the spot, the people had already broken the door. When the mother of the children was informed about the incident she fell unconscious.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement zonal in-charge Siraj Rajput, MPAs Naeem Ishtiaq and Farzana Saeed visited the area and expressed condolences with the family. In Latifabad unit-10, four-and-half-year-old Sadaf, daughter of Sharafat, was burnt in a store of her house.

Sadaf was playing with her friends in the store. They had lit the fire which engulfed the store. The other children managed to get out of the place.