Girl stuck in toilet dies in Sikkim fire

The fire at Deorali Bazaar in Sikkim on Tuesday. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Nirmal Mangar, TT, Gangtok, Oct. 21: An eight-year-old girl died of suffocation when a fire broke out near Gangtok this morning, gutting five wooden houses and damaging a three-storey concrete building close by.

“It took more than one hour to bring the fire under control. We are trying to find out the reason of the outbreak but preliminary investigation suggests that someone in the katchahouse must have left the cooking stove or gas unattended,” said the deputy chief fire officer, Prakash Rai.

The incident took place at around noon at Deorali Bazaar, which is a crowded market about 2km from Gangtok.

Eleven families were left homeless.

Six families stayed in the building whereas five families lived in the wooden houses.

Rai said three fire tenders with the capacity of 3,000 litres were used to douse the flames.

The girl has been identified as Norah Sherpa. She was found locked inside a toilet in the three-storied building where she used to stay.

Neighbour Shivaji Prasad said: “My friend Rajesh and I went inside the building to check whether if there were people stranded inside. The rooms were filled with smoke. After evacuating two persons, we broke the toilet door of one of the rooms and found the girl lying unconscious.”

The girl was immediately taken to STNM hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

“The girl was already dead when brought to the hospital. The reason of her death is asphyxia, the deficient supply of oxygen in the body because of excessive inhaling of the smoke,” said the additional medical superintendent of STNM Hospital, K.B. Gurung.

The girl was a student of Class III at Deorali Government Girl’s Senior Secondary School.

Arjun Thapa, 45, the uncle of the girl, said: “She refused to go to school today because she said she didn’t have socks and went to play instead. I was looking for her to call her for lunch but could not find her. I have no idea how she landed up in the toilet. Her father who works as a construction labourer had left her with us for the past eight months.”

Two persons — 18-year-old girl Sudha Shah and her neighbour 45-year-old Naresh Gurung — were injured in the blaze. Both of them have sustained burns on their legs.

Gurung’s wife said: “My husband is a paralysis patient and cannot walk. I was not in the house when the incident took place. I was informed by my neighbours. I immediately rushed home and saw that the fire had engulfed my home. I am grateful to those who took out by husband from the room.” The subdivisional magistrate, Sharmista Rai, said the victims would be compensated following government norms.