Two children, Arjun (5) and Asha (3), lost their lives in a fire that erupted in a temporary shed near Narayanapura in Bengaluru’s Kothanur area. The siblings, originally from Karnataka’s Raichur district, were the offspring of Durgappa and Savitri, who had moved to Bengaluru for daily wage labor and had been living in makeshift shelters near Narayanapura for the past six months.
The unfortunate incident occurred when the parents, employed as laborers at a JCS company, had returned to Bengaluru after a week-long visit to their native village. Despite being advised by their contractor not to bring their children to the worksite, the mother left the kids with their grandmother before heading to work. Tragically, a fire broke out in the shed around 1 p.m. while the grandmother briefly stepped out, leaving the children unattended.
The fire trapped the children inside the shed, resulting in one child’s immediate death and the other succumbing to injuries while being transported to the hospital. The Kothanur police station personnel swiftly responded to the scene, conducted an examination, and filed a case. Authorities have initiated an investigation to determine the precise cause of the fire.
In a similar vein, previous fire incidents have also claimed lives in Bengaluru, including one where two construction workers perished in a building under construction on the outskirts of the city in February 2025. The fire, suspected to have been caused by a gas cylinder leak or a short circuit, led to the deaths of the two workers, while three others managed to escape unharmed.
