MULTAN/GUJRAT, Dec 6: Ten members of two families were burnt alive in two incidents on Saturday.

In the first incident in Multan, five members of a family were killed when a fire erupted in a house in Gau Shala locality, Delhi Gate. The cause of the blaze was said to be a short circuit.

Eight members of labourer Ghulam Abbas’ family were asleep when a fire broke out in the house early in the morning. The fire engulfed the house within minutes. As a result, Ghulam Abbas (50), his daughters Javeria (18) and Mariyam (2) and son Taimur (10) were killed at the scene. Surayya, Sobia (17), Maria (22) and their mother were injured and they were shifted to Nishter Hospital in a critical condition. Sobia succumbed to her burns at the hospital.

According to hospital sources, the condition of three injured is also critical.

In the second incident, a woman and her four children were burnt alive when fire broke out in their house in Yateem Mohallah of Dinga, some 50 kilometres from Gujrat, late on Friday night.

The fire erupted at Shafique’s house after a burning candle fell on a bed during loadshedding. The resulting fire engulfed the bedroom, killing 32-year-old Rizwana Shafique, her daughters Sana (12) and Aleesha (10) and sons Waleed (8) and Tauseef (2). Six-month-old Ahmed was injured in the fire.

Ahmed was shifted to Combined Military Hospital in Kharian in precarious condition.

Gujrat DCO Sardar Akram Javed and MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood were among thousands of people who offered funeral prayers for the fire victims on Saturday.

Dinga Union Council Naib Nazim Muhammad Hanif Tahir appealed to the federal and provincial government to announce compensation for Shafique, a vegetable vendor, because it would be very difficult for him to meet the expenses of his son’s treatment.