LUCKNOW, INDIA, MAY 12

Two children and a woman have died after the battery of an e-rickshaw exploded inside their rented accommodation in the Niwazpurwa area in Lucknow, the police said on Friday.

The e-rickshaw driver's wife was sleeping in the house along with her daughter Siya (8), sons 3-year-old Kunj and seventh-month-old Chotu, and niece Riya (9) when the incident occurred early on Thursday morning, they said.

'The husband had put a couple of batteries of the e-rickshaw on charging inside their room. It appears that one of the batteries exploded due to overcharging around 5 am on Thursday,' a police official said.

The woman's husband had gone outside the house to attend nature's call and narrowly escaped the blast that shook the neighbourhood.

However, the woman and the four children sustained injuries and were rushed to a hospital, the official said.

'While the woman, her son Kunj and niece succumbed to injuries on Thursday night her daughter and seventh-month-old son are currently in hospital,' the police official added.

The bodies were sent for post-mortem on Friday and a probe was underway into the matter, police said.​​​​​​​

Source: PTI

The Press Trust of India Ltd, commonly known as PTI, is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in New Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 500 Indian newspapers.