House catches fire,family jumps to safety

Four members of a family had to jump to safety in the middle of night on Thursday after their house caught fire. Rajneesh Dutt,a resident of Shanti Nagar in Patiala,jumped off his top floor house with his son,daughter and wife as the fire spread fast and the fire brigade hadn’t arrived. The four have been admitted to the Government Rajindra Hospital as they sustained minor injuries.

While the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained,their three-storeyed house suffered extensive damage. A part of the house,in which Dutt had his grocery shop,was gutted. His cat and two motor cycles,too,were burnt down.

Awadh Raj,a neighbour,said the incident took place around 2.30 am. “The fire spread so quickly that Rajneesh and his family had to jump off from the top floor of their three-storeyed house,” he said. Though people came out of the neighbourhood to douse the fire,not much could be saved.