Unable to regain senses, six of family died in sleep
One woman, 5 kids died of asphyxiation following a fire triggered by a candle
GHAZIABAD: All the six family members who died when a room in a residential building in Uttranchal Vihar in Loni went up in flames were sleeping at the time of the incident and were not able to raise an alarm, the police said. Based on an initial investigation, the police said all the six victims had died in their sleep.
“When we reached the spot we found all the six persons in their beds. There were two beds inside the room which was about 12 feet x 6 feet in dimension. All the victims had not left their beds. They were lying on their cots. The upper portion of their bodies that remained uncovered had been charred and was covered with a layer of thick carbon deposit,” Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural), said.
“There is a small opening for ventilation near the ceiling of the room, but it wasn’t big enough to let the gases out. Since thick smoke covered the room, all the victims inhaled the poisonous gases and died in their sleep. Their bodies were lying on their beds, and this suggests that they could not regain their senses and could not call anyone for help,” Jadaun added.
The three-floor building in Uttranchal Vihar belongs to five brothers—Yusuf Ali, Asif, Rashid, Javed and Arif.
The incident took place in one of the rooms on the ground floor while other family members were sleeping in rooms on the first and the second floor.
Other people from the family who were also sleeping in other rooms on the same floor and the two other floors in the building did not come to know about the fire which that is believed to have started late Sunday night, a family member said.
“Yusuf and I had gone to attend a wedding at our relative’s place in Jani, Meerut, and came to know about the incident on Monday morning. Other family members had not gone to attend the wedding as their children’s school examinations were going on and needed to study at home. They were supposed to go to Meerut later. After getting to know about the incident, we rushed back home. The five children, including my two sons, were sleeping with my sister-inlaw and my brother Asif’s three daughters were also with them,” Rashid Ali, father of two boys who died in the incident, said.
According to the family, three brothers, along with their children and wives were in the house, when the incident took place. “There were other family members who were sleeping in the building including other rooms on the ground floor. But no one heard any noise or any cries for help. The room in which the fire took place was locked from inside and it doors were broken by our neighbours Monday morning,” he added.