BAHAWALPUR: Three people, including an elderly couple, were burnt alive while a minor girl suffered serious burns in electric heater and gas stove fire incidents in Hasilpur and Khanqah Sharif on Wednesday.

According to emergency rescue service 1122, in the first fire incident in a house near special education school in Hasilpur, an elderly couple slept leaving the electric heater on. During night time, their quilts accidentally caught fire from the heater as a result Falak Shair (88) and his wife Gama Mai (90) were suffocated to death. Police reached the scene and declared their deaths accidental.

In the second incident at Khanqah Sharif town on Bahawalpur-Ahmedpur East highway, about 20 kms from here, the rescuers said the fire erupted in a motor mechanic’s shop in local main bazaar where mechanic Shabir Ahmed (50) died of burns. The rescuers quoting deceased’s nephew said the fire in the shop erupted from an electric heater, which had been switched on by the deceased to beat the shivering cold at night. Rescuers on an emergency call extinguished the fire but by then Shabir Ahmed had been burnt to death.

In the incident in Maqbool Colony near Satellite Town, an 11-year old girl Dua Fatima suffered burns when her clothes caught fire while she was sitting near a gas stove in her house. The rescuers, who rendered her first aid at her house, shifted her to Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) where doctors said her legs had suffered burns and she was admitted for treatment.

ACCIDENT: A loader rickshaw driver, Sajjad, was killed when his shawl got entangled in the chain of the three-wheeler which overturned near local ghee mills on Bahawalpur-Ahmedpur East highway on Wednesday. The deceased’s companion, Wazir (20), suffered injuries and was shifted to BVH.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2026