A fire broke out at Bihar’s minor irrigation minister Santosh Kumar Suman’s official residence in Patna on Wednesday morning when the minister and his family were at home. However, no one was hurt as they rushed out of the house after detecting smoke. The fire department claimed to have brought the blaze under control within a couple of hours, but the cause of the fire was not known at this stage.
At 8 am on Wednesday morning, the minister’s family comprising wife Deepa Manjhi, son Aditya and daughter Guriya noticed smoke billowing out of one of the rooms of the government flat and rushed out of the house, said a fire department official. Santosh Kumar Suman is son of former chief minister and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) president, Jitan Ram Manjhi.
“This is an old building, and I cannot really say what caused the fire,” Suman said.
The fire started on the ground floor of the ministerial bungalow, located on Strand Road in Patna, and it burnt most articles such as clothes, furniture, electronic equipment and air conditioners before it was brought under control with the help of two fire tenders. It didn’t cause any injuries or casualties, the fire department said.
“It happened in a room at the ministerial bungalow. Though we don’t know the exact reason, as of now, an air-conditioner is suspected to be the cause of the fire. An investigation will be done,” HAM spokesperson Danis Rizwan said.
