Diwali celebrations took a tragic turn in Kanpur’s Kakadev area as a fire, ignited by a diya in a home temple, claimed the lives of Sanjay Shyam Dasani, a 48-year-old businessman, his wife Kanika Dasani, 42, and their 24-year-old maid, Chhabi Chauhan.
The fire reportedly started in the home temple after a diya (oil lamp), left burning as part of the family’s Diwali puja, ignited surrounding materials. The flames spread rapidly due to extensive wooden interiors, reaching the bedroom and balcony areas.
The Dasanis, prominent in the city for their business, Ambaji Foods, were asleep when the blaze engulfed their three-storey Pandu Nagar home. The couple became trapped as the heat caused the room’s automatic door to lock, cutting off their escape.
The couple’s son, Harsh Dasani, was out celebrating Diwali with friends and discovered the smoke upon returning late at night. He immediately alerted neighbors and called the fire brigade, but rescue efforts came too late. Firefighters arrived to find that his parents and their maid had already succumbed to the flames.
Preliminary forensic assessments point to the diya as the fire’s origin, with the heat-triggered locking mechanism and extensive woodwork in the house amplifying the fire’s intensity. Fire officials confirmed that the diya ignited other flammable materials in the room, leading to the fatal incident.
