Dhanbad/Ranchi: At least fourteen people including ten women and three children lost their lives in a massive blaze that engulfed a high-rise tower in Joda Phatak of Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Tuesday Night, a senior official said.
Eleven others have sustained injuries in the fire, Dhanbad DC Sandip Singh confirmed.
There are apprehensions that the death count may go up as the condition of some of the injured was critical.
A police officer posted at the Bank Mode Police Station under whose jurisdiction the area falls told UNI that the fire started from the second floor and quickly spread to the third fourth and fifth floors of the building. It is suspected that the fire at Aashirwad Tower broke out following a cylinder blast.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has expressed his grief over the incident.
Taking to Twitter, Soren expressed his shock and sorrow over the tragedy and said the district administration was conducting rescue operations on a war footing. The wounded are being provided necessary treatment, the chief minister said, adding that he himself was monitoring the entire situation.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Mundaalso expressed his grief over the incident and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
The dead bodies have been brought to Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital for postmortem. (UNI)