PESHAWAR, April 28: Five children were burned to death when a fire engulfed their house in Namak Mandi area on Monday morning.

They remained trapped for three hours inside a room on the upper floor of the two-storey semi-wooden structure. An electrical short circuit was blamed for the fire which spread to the entire house and the children were unable to come downstairs.

The children were identified as Usman (1), Noman (2), Ayeshah (5), Tahira (7) and Naheed (10).

They were sleeping in a room while their mother was preparing breakfast when the fire broke out. Their father Nasrullah had gone to Rawalpindi in connection with some domestic work. Their mother and uncle Anwar tried to rescue the children but they could not go upstairs because the entire house was in flames.

Local people blamed the fire brigade for the tragedy, saying they kept trying to inform the fire station but the phone calls were not attended. “After the fire was put out we took the children to hospital but it was too late,” one of them said. The family also lost all household items and some cash.

“Even after the fire tenders arrived, a lot of time was wasted in filling the tank and taking the pipe to the house.”

They also accused the Peshawar Electric Supply Company of doing nothing to remove the dangling electric wires despite repeated complaints made by residents.

Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour and Speaker Kiramatullah Khan visited the area and expressed sympathy with the bereaved family.

They assured the people that their complaints against the fire-brigade would be investigated and action would be taken if anyone was found to have failed in his duty.