KARACHI: A woman and her two children died in a fire that broke out in their Jahangir Road home early on Friday morning, police said.

They said that the incident took place owing to some electric short-circuit in a government quarters dating back to the colonial era where houses had old and faulty electric wiring.

Jamshed Quarters SHO Shamshad Chachar said that 35-year-old Shumaila and her son and daughter — eight-year-old Irfan and five-year-old Hunaiza — were sleeping in a small room, which was locked from the inside.

Shumaila lived with her in-laws and other members of her family were sleeping in another room.

He said that the electric board caught fire and the sparks reached the ceiling fan which also caught fire. Some sparks form the fan fell on their bed, which was engulfed in flames.

When other family members and neighbours woke up at around 5.30am, they saw smoke coming from the room. They entered the room and found charred bodies of the woman and her two children, said the officer.

The bodies were shifted to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities.

The area SHO said that the deceased’s husband, Junaid, worked in Malaysia.

Declaring it an accident, he ruled out any possibility of foul play.

Also, he said that no relatives had so far approached the police for lodging any case.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2019