An elderly woman’s sari caught fire from a gas oven when she was cooking in her north Kolkata home on Monday afternoon.
Sandhya Bhutia Agarwal, 74, has been admitted to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital with severe burns.
Agarwal was alone at home on JK Mitra Road in Belgachhia when her sari caught fire around 1pm, police said.
An officer said her daughter and son-in-law were in office.
“She was cooking when her sari caught fire. For some time she did not realise that her apparel was on fire. It was only after she felt the heat and the room was filled with smoke that she started shouting for help,” said an officer of Chitpore police station.
Neighbours rushed to her help and poured water on her before taking her to RG Kar Hospital.
Agarwal was admitted to the plastic surgery ward of the hospital.
Several elderly Kolkatans have been injured in recent past in fire-related accidents while cooking, lighting a diya during puja or lighting a cigarette.
In the past year, at least seven elderly people suffered fatal burns accidentally.
“These incidents are very unfortunate,” said a senior police officer in Lalbazar.