At least 14 people, including women and children, were charred to death, after a major fire broke out in a multi-storey building in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Tuesday evening, officials said.

A total of 14 people were injured in the blaze that erupted at 6 pm on the second floor of Ashirwad Tower in Dhanbad's Joraphatak area, around 160 km from state capital Ranchi, they said.

“The death toll is 14 at present... The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained,” Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh told PTI.

The fatalities include 10 women and three children, a senior police officer said.

Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Singh said the district administration has completed the rescue and combing operation of the building, and the injured are undergoing treatment.

“The injured people are out of danger," he said.

Around 15 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, the officials said.

Officer-in-Charge of Bank More Police Station P K Singh said initial reports suggest that a curtain caught fire from the flames of an earthen lamp in one of the flats of the building.

Governor Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister Hemant Soren expressed grief over the incident, and said the district administration is working on an emergency basis.

"The death of people due to the fire in Dhanbad is extremely heart-wrenching. The district administration is working on a war footing and treatment is being provided to the injured. I am personally monitoring it," Soren said in a tweet.

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