Bhubaneswar, Oct 18 (Inditop.com) A 45-year-old man was burnt to death, nearly 100 others suffered burn injuries and about 50 houses were reduced to ashes in separate fire incidents during Diwali celebrations in Orissa, police said Sunday.
Prakash Biswal, a shopkeeper, was burnt to death in Betali village of Bhadrak district when a jar containing petrol caught fire after being hit by a burning fire cracker Saturday night, sub-divisional police officer S.C. Das told Inditop.
Biswal’s brother who was present there also sustained critical burn injuries. He is undergoing treatment in the district government hospital, Das said.
In other incidents, more than 50 people sustained burn injuries in state capital Bhubaneswar and about 20 people at adjoining Cuttack town while bursting fire crackers, hospital sources said.
More than 50 houses were burnt to ashes in a slum at the port town of Paradip when one of the houses caught fire after being hit by a burning cracker.
“The fire spread to other houses and burnt more than 50 houses. Initial estimates say properties worth more than Rs.1 crore were gutted in the mishap,” a police officer said.
