Indore fire: Nitish Kumar announces Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for victims

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announced a Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for the families of six Kishanganj residents who died in a fire in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The blaze, which killed eight, reportedly started from an exploding EV charging point.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed deep grief over the death of six people from Kishanganj district who lost their lives in a fire incident in Indore and announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each to the dependents of the victims.

A massive fire broke out in a three-storey house situated in the Brijeshwari Annexe residential locality in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district at around 4 AM on Wednesday, which claimed lives of eight people, including six from Bihar's Kisanganj.

CM announces ex-gratia, orders arrangements

In an official statement, CM Nitish Kumar condoled over the death of six residents of Kishanganj district in a house fire caused by a short circuit at an electric car charging point in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and described the incident as deeply tragic. "The Chief Minister has directed that an ex-gratia grant of Rs 2 lakh each be provided to the bereaved families of the deceased from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. CM Kumar also instructed the Resident Commissioner, New Delhi, to coordinate with the Government of Madhya Pradesh and ensure proper arrangements to transport the mortal remains of the deceased to their native villages," the statement read.

CM Nitish Kumar further prayed peace for the departed souls and strength for grieving families to bear this loss in this difficult hour.

Police investigation points to EV charging point

Earlier, Indore Commissioner of Police Santosh Kumar Singh informed about the chain of events that led to the incident. He said that it started from an EV charging point exploding while charging an electric vehicle, which was followed by explosions of "some" LGP cylinders.

"As per initial investigations, an electric vehicle was being charged outside the house, and the charging point exploded. After that, the fire then spread to the house from the car. We found that there were electronic locks in the building, so it seems that after the explosion, power cuts may occur and doors may be locked. It was a three-storey building, and more than 10 gas cylinders were also stored inside the house, some of which exploded. We also witnessed cylinder explosions between the time period of 4 am and 4:30 am," the police commissioner said.

He added that the fire tender team also checked the nearby houses and buildings as a precaution because too much heat was generated at the time of the blaze. (ANI)

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