DERA ISMAIL KHAN: An officer of the Army’s Medical Corps and his two children were burnt to death and three family members received burns when a fire broke out in their house in Dera city here on Monday morning.

The army officer was identified as Lt-Col Dr Mohammad Saqib.

DSP city Hafiz Adnan confirmed that a fire broke out at the residence of Lt-Col Dr Mohammad Saqib at Inner Imamia Gate of Dera city early in the morning when the inmates were asleep. He said the fire broke out at the ground floor and also engulfed the upper floor.

As a result, Dr Saqib himself, his 12-year-old daughter, Quirat, and 17-year-old son, Moazenur Rehman died, while his 14-year-old son, Mohammad Ashhad, daughter Manhal, and wife sustained burn injuries.

A rescue team doused the blaze. The bodies and the injured were shifted to Combined Military Hospital, Dera.

Family sources said that Dr Saqib was performing duty in Azad Jammu and Kahsmir, and had reached his residence last night to spend weekly off with his family.

A police official said the cause of the fire was not yet known. However, he said circumstantial evidence showed that short-circuiting caused the inferno in the building. He said investigation was underway.

The bodies were later laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard in Dera city.

The funeral prayers were offered at Eidgah attended by a large number of people.

Meanwhile, two young brothers drowned in the Indus River while taking a bath in Kacha Yarokhel area here.

The police said the younger brother was swimming in the river when the water overpowered him.

Seeing his brother drowning, the elder brother also jumped into water to save him, but both of them drowned.

Local people retrieved the bodies. They were identified as nine-year-old Wajahatullah and 12-year-old Junaid, residents of Mohallah Khanki Khel.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2024