Three minors were burnt to death while playing inside a thatched house on Friday morning in the Charaideo district of Assam.
The incident took place at around 10:30 am at Greater Baruahola village under Sepon police station in the upper Assam district, Charaideo Superintendent of Police Sudhakar Singh said.
"The incident was reported around 10.30 am on Friday. Four minors were playing inside a house. They were lighting cigarettes inside a thatched shed when it caught fire. One managed to escape, the other three were burned to death," Mr Singh said.
The dead have been as identified as Bivan Munda (2), Anud Munda (2) and Khahinur Karuwa (4).
"The police team from Sepon police station have reached the spot and started investigation. Right now we cannot say much about the case but preliminary investigation say that three of them died after burning," Mr Singh said.
Nearby villagers rushed to douse the fire, but it was too late by then, he added.
The bodies have been sent to Sivasagar Civil Hospital for postmortem.
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