Samastipur: Five children of a family, including three girls, were burnt to death when their hut caught fire in Rampur village under Hasanpur police station of Bihar's Samastipur district on May 16 morning, police said.

The tragedy occurred when the fire from a leaking stove on which the wife of one Bisho Mahto was cooking, engulfed the thatched hut killing the five children who were sleeping inside, Deputy Superintendent of Police Vinay Bharti said.

The father of the children had gone out to work, while the mother was in the neighbourhood leaving the stove burning, he said.

The fire spread rapidly due to the high-speed wind and gutted about 50 more hutments in the neighbourhood, he said, adding there was no report of any casualty in other hutments.

The victims have been identified as Nitish Kumar (5), Priti Kumari (7), Choti Kumari (9), Rajo Mahto (10) and Arti Kumari (15), the DSP said.

District Magistrate Narmadeshwar Lal and Superintendent of Police Meghnath Ram have rushed to the site, about 25 km from Samastipur town, he said.

PTI