Six of a Karande family die in Yedshi fire that began in grocery shop

Six members of a single family lost their lives when a huge fire swept through a grocery shop and the home built above and beside it in Yedshi village of Dharashiv district on Monday. Two of the dead are teenage girls, and three generations of the family were lost together.

The blaze is reported to have started at about 2.30 am in Karande Kirana Stores and Gift Ware. Some early accounts had put the time nearer midnight. It was first confined to the shop but spread quickly, and soon engulfed the family's residence. The shop and house were surrounded by wood and other material that burns easily, and since it was night the flames moved fast. The family, asleep at the time, had almost no chance to get out. Dense smoke and flames filled the house, and the victims are said to have died of suffocation. One member of the family survived and is being treated in hospital.

The dead are Uttam Trimbak Karande (75), his wife Chandrakala Uttam Karande (70), their son Govind Uttam Karande (47), his wife Jyoti Govind Karande (42), and their daughters Gayatri (16) and Siddhi (15).

Neighbours ran to the spot as soon as word spread, and villagers, the police and a fire brigade team worked together to put out the fire. The flames were fierce and it took considerable effort to bring them under control, but the six could not be saved. The bodies were taken to the government hospital in Dharashiv, where doctors reportedly said the victims had died before they were brought in.

The cause is not yet established. Early talk blamed a lamp lit at home for Diwali, as the tragedy came just after the festival, but that was never officially confirmed. The latest indication is that a short circuit is suspected, and this too has no official confirmation. Police and the administration are investigating how the fire began and spread.

Yedshi and the wider Dharashiv area are in mourning, and the loss of three generations in one night has left residents shaken. The incident has also revived the question of fire safety, in particular the need for fire-prevention measures, regular checks of electrical equipment and proper emergency exits where a house shares a building with a shop.