Patna, Dec 19 (IANS): Two children were charred to death in a car in a village in the outskirts of Patna, late on Monday night.

The deceased are identified as Rajpal (7) son of Sanjit Kumar and Shristi (6) daughter of Sukun Kumar alias Tunna. The tragic incident occurred at Sohgi Rampur Tad village under Gaurichak police station in the district.

The police said that the victims were playing inside the car around 9 p.m. on Monday when a fire occurred inside the parked Maruti Alto. Due to central locking system, the children were trapped inside. The family members of the victims rushed to save them but it was too late.

The family members broke the window pans and retrieved the bodies and took them to a private hospital where doctors declared them dead.

The car belongs to Sanjit Kumar and he had recently installed CNG in the car. The CNG cylinder was also gutted in the fire.

“The reason for the fire is not ascertained yet. We have taken the statement of the victims family members. Sanjit, after returning home in the evening, parked the car without locking the door. The children might have entered the car and were playing inside,” said Krishna Kumar, SHO of Gaurichak police station.

“We have received the dead bodies and sent them for the postmortem,” he said .