TURA:
On a day of Christmas celebrations in the Garo Hills region, two families were struck with tragedy after an inferno destroyed their homes on Christmas eve night taking away everything they had painstakingly saved all through their lives.
The first fire broke out at Mandagre village of Selsella constituency completely destroying the home of missionary nun Sister Leena Ch Marak.
Sister Leena had come home to spend time with her family for Christmas when she witnessed the tragedy following a fire breakout at around 7:30 pm of December 24. Sister Leena belonging to the MSMHC congregation of nuns is currently the principal of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya school for girls in Baghmara that provides shelter, care and education for the weaker sections of society.
On the same night, past midnight, a major fire broke out in the house of Nengran Sangma in Upper Kongrapara village, under Rongsai police outpost in Pedaldoba region of West Garo Hills.
The cause of the fire, as per police enquiry, is said to have been caused by rubber sheets that had been kept to dry in the kitchen.
The rubber sheets prepared from the latex had been stored in the kitchen, not far from the fireplace, to dry before sale when one of the sheets fell onto the fire and quickly spread to the rest of the consignment.
The inferno was so massive that it destroyed the kitchen, the main house and three other living spaces in a span of minutes.
At the time of the fire breakout, the children of the house were away participating in the village community dance fest to celebrate Christmas and only the parents were at home. Fortunately there were no lives lost. However, all their savings, home appliances, clothes, food stock and crucial education documents were destroyed in the blaze.