In a heart-wrenching incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district, a massive fire broke out in a residential building in the Kidwai Nagar area late Monday evening, claiming the lives of six family members. The deceased include five children—among them two six-month-old twins and a 25-year-old woman identified as Rukhsar.
The blaze, which reportedly started around 8:30 PM on February 23, 2026, is suspected to have been triggered by a short circuit in an electrical appliance on the first floor before rapidly spreading through the structure.
The building served a dual purpose, with the ground floor operating as a garment warehouse while the family resided on the upper floors. According to local reports, the men of the household had gone to a nearby mosque for evening prayers when the fire erupted. Trapped by the smoke and advancing flames,
Rukhsar reportedly attempted to shield the children by retreating into a room on the second floor, but the intensity of the fire and toxic smoke proved fatal. Despite the frantic rescue efforts of neighbors and the arrival of fire tenders, the narrow lanes of the Lisari Gate locality significantly hampered firefighting operations, delaying the evacuation.
The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared the five children brought dead. Rukhsar succumbed to her injuries during treatment, while another woman remains in critical condition. Senior officials, including District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Singh and SSP Avinash Pandey, visited the site to oversee the investigation. Preliminary findings point toward a technical fault in an electrical gadget, though authorities are also looking into the legality of operating a commercial warehouse within a densely populated residential zone.
