Moran (Assam): While the whole world was busy celebrating the New year, the auspicious occasion turned out to be rather a nightmare for a man in Assam's Moran who suffered burn injuries in a rather freak fire incident reportedly caused due to smoking a cigarette, sources said. An official said that the incident took place at Mathurapur Tea Estate in Charaideo district of Assam.
The horrific incident took place at night amidst new year's celebrations on the intervening night of Dec 31 and Jan 1. The garden's assistant manager Pankaj Tripathi was charred in a massive fire. The assistant manager of the tea garden reportedly suffered burn injuries while filling petrol in his bike as he was smoking a cigarette, an official said.
Notably, Tripathi was filling his bike with petrol that was kept at his compound, on his own. It is learnt that the fire broke out as Tripathi was smoking a cigarette while filling the petrol on the bike. Pankaj Tripathi sustained nearly 90 per cent burn injuries in the fire. Soon after fire caught his body, Trtipathi ran inside the house in an attempt to douse the fire however the intensity was reportedly high and led to severe burn injuries to him, added the official.
Moreover, several household items also were gutted by the inferno during the chaos, the official further said. An official said that Tripathi was rushed to Sonari Civil Hospital from where he was referred to Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh for specialised treatment given the grievous injuries. In the meantime, fire tenders arrived at the staff quarter of Tripathi to douse the fire but several valuables and the motorcycle were already charred.
The incident created a tense atmosphere in Mathurapur tea estate overnight.
