Three suffocated to death as building catches fire
GUWAHATI: Three members of a family were suffocated to death and three others in a critical condition after a major fire broke out in the ground floor of a building in Kamrup district of Assam, police said on Wednesday.
The blaze that broke out in the wee hours also destroyed 10 shops located at the commercial building in the silk town of Sualkuchi.
Smoke from the fire went up to the third floor residence where the family members were sleeping, police said.
The building owner Lohit Kakoty (75), his eldest daughter Kabita Mahanta (32) and her 18-month old son Mayun Deb Mahanta died of asphyxiation.
Kakoty’s wife Anupama Kakoty (70), her younger daughter Juri Bharali (28), and her minor son Parthiv Paresh Bharali are battling for their lives in the ICU of a private hospital in Guwahati where they were taken, police said.
Local people informed the fire department about the blaze around 4 am.
After extinguishing the flames downstairs, the firemen reached the third floor of the building and brought out the family members after breaking open the door, police said.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
At least 10 shops of Assamese silk clothes were destroyed in the fire that gutted goods worth over an estimated Rs 50 lakh, other shop owners in the building claimed.
Sualkuchi, around 35 km from Guwahati, is a town where the tradition of weaving silks could be traced back to the 11th century, Kamrup district’s official website said. Children pose for photograph as they greet each other on the occasion of ‘Eid-al-adha’, at Eid Gah Qutub shahi in Hyderabad