Meghalaya: 117-Yr-Old Church of God Qualapatty Gutted, 2 Dead

Shillong, November 17, 2019:

The state of Meghalaya woke up to a tragedy today after a fire broke out at the 117-year-old Church of God at Qualapatty. The fire, which broke out a 4 am on Sunday, reportedly claimed two lives.

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Two persons who lived very close to the Church reportedly died in the incident, police said. People started noticing flames licking the internal parts of the church at around 4 am. Police, however, suspected that the fire must have broken out much earlier.

Claudia Lyngwa, Superintendent of Police of East Khasi Hills district. told Inside Northeast, "Since morning, we have been assessing the fire, the Church was totally secure. There was . It happened very suddenly. The fire service were a bit late in reaching the spot, locals said. However, the road was very narrow road for the fire tenders to enter. The couple who died reportedly went back to save their belongings, and they unfortunately suffocated. It is a most unfortunate incident."

Lyngwa further informed that the police reached the area at 4:30, but the locals were thick in the arms of slumber.

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Sources said that the church was totally secured, however, some repairing works including wiring, were going on inside the church. The area where the church stood, is surrounded by many houses.

It is to be mentioned the Church of God (Meghalaya and Assam) started by Rev J J M Nichols Roy, is the first Church of the denomination at Qualapatty.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has mourned the incident on Twitter. The Chief Minister, in his tweet, wrote, "

 

data-query-source="hashtag_click">#Meghalaya woke up to the tragic news of the Church of God, Qualapatty being gutted in fire that also claimed lives this morning. The indigenous church is one of the oldest in the State. My prayers for the deceased and the Church of God family."

 

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