February 04, 2008	Monday	Muharram 25, 1429

THATTA, Feb 3: Four children of a family were burned to death and three elders suffered serious burns when fire reduced their straw-thatched hut to ashes in the coastal village of Yaroo Mallah near Keti Bundar early on Sunday.

The hut caught fire from embers from a bonfire the villagers had lit near the poor family’s home to keep themselves warm in the cold weather, the president of the Thatta chapter of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Syed Gulab Shah told journalists.

The fire was so sudden that only three people could escape with severe burns while Abdul, 10, Juman, 5, Pappu, 5, and Rasheed, 10, were burned to death with the entire belongings reduced to ashes, he said.

The villagers moved the injured to Karachi on their own and also bore the funeral expenses of the four children.

No official of Thatta district administration had gone to the village till the filing of this report.

District Nazim Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah Shirazi, however, announced Rs25,000 each as compensation for the deceased and the injured.