2 Girls Charred to Death In A Car Fire

New Delhi: Two minor girls, who had sustained burn injuries after the car they were playing in caught fire in outer Delhi's Sultanpuri area, died on Friday, police said.

The girls, aged two and three, had sustained severe burn injuries on Thursday morning. They were undergoing treatment at Safdarjang Hospital but succumbed to their burns this afternoon, police said.

They had suffered over 50 percent burns and their condition was said to be critical. The car was sent for forensic examination and it is suspected that a matchbox might have triggered the fire, police said.

The incident happened when their grandmother was inside the house while their parents were away, said a senior police officer. Their grandmother, somehow, couldn't hear their cries for help and it was only after she saw flames coming from the car, that she raised an alarm, he said.

According to a senior officer from Delhi Fire Services, a call was received at 9.45 AM yesterday about a fire breaking out in the car. By the time fire tenders reached, the girls had been rescued by locals and taken to hospital, he said.

The fire was doused within an hour, he added.

PTI