K’taka: Two children die in Kothanur shed fire
Bengaluru: Two children were killed after a fire broke out in a temporary shed near Narayanapura in the Kothanur area of Bengaluru in Karntaka on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Arjun (5) and Asha (3), siblings originally from Karnataka’s Raichur district.
Their parents, Durgappa and Savitri, had migrated to Bengaluru for daily wage work and had been residing in makeshift sheds near Narayanapura for the past six months.
According to police, the couple worked as labourers at a JCS company.
The family had recently returned to Bengaluru after spending a week in their native village.
Police said the contractor had reportedly instructed the couple not to bring their children to the worksite.
Following this, the mother left the children with their grandmother before going to work.
At around 1 p.m., the grandmother allegedly stepped out of the shed to attend nature’s call, leaving the children alone inside.
During that time, a fire broke out in the shed, trapping the children.
One child died on the spot, while the other succumbed to injuries while being shifted to the hospital, police said.
The incident took place around 1.30 p.m.
Personnel from the Kothanur police station rushed to the spot, conducted an inspection, and registered a case.
Police have launched an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.
A major fire in the early hours of April 26 destroyed at least 20 temporary sheds and scrap godowns in Somasundarpalya, under the Bandepalya police station limits in Bengaluru.
The settlement primarily housed migrant workers from West Bengal who earned their living through rag-picking and waste segregation.
In another fire mishap, two construction workers were killed at an under-construction building on the outskirts of Bengaluru in February 2025, while three others managed to escape safely.
The incident occurred near the Seegehalli Gate within the Madanayakanahalli police station limits in Bengaluru.
According to police, the fire broke out in a four-storey building that was under construction.
Preliminary investigations suggested that the blaze may have been triggered either by a gas cylinder leak or a short circuit.
The two workers trapped in the fire died on the spot, while three others escaped from the building in time, police said.
