KOLKATA: A terrible fire broke out on Wednesday at a slum in Mecheda, West Bengal's East Midnapore district, leaving two people dead and gutting 15 homes.

The victims were identified as Gokul Kar, aged 70 and his daughter Mallika Kar aged 40.

They were reportedly sleeping in one of the huts that was taken by fire early on Wednesday morning, according to sources with the state fire service.

Eyewitnesses told the fire service officers that both of them tried to escape and even the locals made an attempt to rescue them. But the efforts failed and both died on the spot.

Up to 15 dwellings in the slum next to the Mecheda bridge had been entirely destroyed by the time the fire tenders arrived at the scene. The witnesses said that one of the destroyed huts' coal-based cooking oven was the most likely source of the fire.

Confirming the death of the 2 persons in the fire, the inspector-in-charge of the local police station, Imran Mollah also said that a total of 15 houses have been fully gutted due to the fire, adding that  "The bodies of the two had been recovered and sent for post-mortem." 

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