Police suspect the children may have initially suffocated due to heavy smoke before suffering burns after the fire quickly spread inside the shed. One child died on the spot, the other died in hospital. | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
In a tragic incident, a five-year-old boy and his three-year-old sister were killed after a temporary workhouse caught fire at K. Narayanapura near Kothanur in northeast Bengaluru on Monday afternoon.
The deceased have been identified as Arjun (5) and Asha (3), children of Durgappa and Savitri, natives of Devadurga taluk in Raichur district.
The family reportedly moved to Bengaluru about four months ago for daily wage labor and lived in one of more than 10 labor sheds built on a private plot belonging to a person identified as Krishnamurthy.
According to the police, the children’s parents went to work around nine o’clock in the morning, leaving the siblings in the care of their grandmother.
A preliminary investigation revealed the grandmother left briefly to use the washroom when the children went into a nearby shed to play. There was a fire in the shed, although the cause has not yet been determined.
Police suspect the children may have initially suffocated due to heavy smoke before suffering burns after the fire quickly spread inside the shed. One child died on the spot, the other died in hospital.
The Kothanur police got information about the incident at around 2 pm and rushed to the spot. Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) and Bescom officials also inspected the spot as part of the investigation.
“A large amount of clothing stored in the shed burned, leading to thick smoke. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined,” the investigator said.
The bodies were taken to Dr. Hospital. BR Ambedkar Medical College Hospital for postmortem examination. Police said a case would be registered after receiving a formal complaint.
Published – 11 May 2026 20:44 IST
