Six of family die in Dharashiv house fire after midnight celebrations

Six members of a family have died in a fire that broke out at their home above a grocery shop in Yedshi village in Maharashtra's Dharashiv district around 2:30 am on Monday.

Parents Govind Uttam Karande, 47, and Jyoti Govind Karande, 42, initially managed to rescue their teenage son, Krishna, bringing him downstairs to safety before re-entering the burning building to save their elderly parents and daughters. They became trapped when the fire spread rapidly across the upper floor.

Victims of the Yedshi fire

The deceased comprise three generations of the family who resided above their commercial store in Dharashiv district.

How the blaze spread

Police and local officials said a driver working for a travel firm first spotted the fire on the upper floor and alerted the occupants. Govind Karande asked his son Krishna to fetch buckets of water while he and his wife went back upstairs to reach the trapped family members.

Superintendent of Police Ritu Khoker Kalyan said substantial stocks of cooking oil, ghee containers, plastic goods, and disposable leaf plates in the ground-floor grocery store fuelled the blaze, causing it to intensify quickly. Senior Police Inspector Vasudev More of Dharashiv Rural police station noted that preliminary assessments indicate Govind and Jyoti suffered severe burns, while the remaining four victims succumbed to smoke inhalation.

Emergency response and official inquiry

District emergency teams and fire brigade personnel were deployed to suppress the flames and secure the building. Dharashiv Collector Keerthi Kiran Pujar confirmed that all six bodies were moved to the local government hospital for post-mortem examinations.

Officials noted that the family had been awake until around 2 am celebrating Lakshmi Puja and Diwali. District authorities said preliminary information suggests burning diyas left near the house may have triggered the blaze, though forensic and police investigations remain under way to determine the exact cause. Dharashiv Rural police will register an accidental death report following formal statements from the surviving son and relatives.