Octogenarian woman dies after 2 bldgs catch fire at Vairengte town

Aizawl: An octogenarian woman died when two buildings occupied by four families were completely gutted in Vairengte town of Mizoram's Kolasib district along the Assam border on Saturday night, police reports said on Sunday.

The reports said while all the members of the three families were out of their homes working, the 89-year-old Lali was inside one of the homes and was burned alive as she was too weak and fragile because of old age to escape the inferno. Lali's son and other family members were also out of their home working.

Her funeral was held at Vairengte IOC Veng locality at 12pm on Sunday.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. Police launched an investigation into the incident. It was estimated that the buildings, including properties inside, worth around Rs 10 lakh were destroyed by the conflagration while a car and a bike parked outside the buildings were also gutted.

Reports said local volunteers as well as fire and emergency personnel using fire fighting equipment tried to douse the fire but could do so after over an hour when the buildings were beyond salvage.