The fires broke out during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. Six members of a family were killed in Seoni early on Monday morning, six more from another family died in a blaze in Katni district, and an elderly man died in a fire in Ujjain.

Six killed in Seoni house fire

In Seoni, fire engulfed the three-storey house of goldsmith Kundan Lal Soni near a Jain temple in Mahavir Ward in Chhapara town between 4 am and 4.30 am, a day after Diwali. Ten people were present in the house at the time, and six of them died while four were evacuated. The dead were identified as Kundan Lal Soni, 75, his wife Rajkumari Soni, 65, Ritu Soni, 42, Smriti Soni, 40, Surya Soni, 45, and Aditya Soni, 16. Three women and a minor were among those who died. The fire brigade and rescue teams later brought the blaze under control.

Short circuit suspected in Seoni

The cause of the fire in Seoni was not yet known, and police said the investigation was continuing. A short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire, based on the preliminary investigation, according to the Seoni police chief. The family members were asleep when the blaze erupted, leaving them with little chance to escape. The house was engulfed quickly, and the four survivors were pulled out by the rescue teams.

Six killed in Katni, including a two-month-old

In Katni, six members of a family were killed after a fire broke out at a crockery shop in a three-storey building in Barhi town around midnight. The blaze spread quickly through the building and trapped the family inside. The dead were identified as Puran Agarwal, 77, who ran the shop, his wife Chandrakala, 74, daughter-in-law Poonam, granddaughters Arya, 14, and Anvi, 6, and a two-month-old child. The infant died in his mother Poonam's arms. The cause of the fire in Katni is not known at this stage.

Elderly man dies in Ujjain

In a third incident, an elderly man died after a massive blaze at 9 pm on Diwali night in the Nagjhiri area of Ujjain. A fire broke out in two shops below a two-storey building, and ten members of a family were trapped in the upper part of the house. Traders, local residents, police and the municipal corporation launched a rescue operation and evacuated the people from the house. The shops contained hardware and electronics, oil paints and other flammable materials. The two-storey house above the shops was engulfed in flames and smoke in no time. The elderly man, Mohanlal, son of Shankarlal, aged 107, was sent to the government Charak Bhawan Hospital in critical condition and died of smoke inhalation. Two family members were injured in the incident.