PUNE Four members of a family, including two minors who were sleeping inside a hardware shop in Purnanagar locality of Chikhali area, Pimpri-Chinchwad city were found charred to death in a fire incident early Wednesday morning.
According to the police, local residents found smoke billowing out of the shop Sachin Hardware and Electronics early in the morning. They then informed the fire brigade about the incident.
According to the fire department, the fire took place due to a short circuit at around 5 am and the fire brigade received a call from the locals around 5.25 am.
The fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and doused the flames in about half an hour, officials from Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) said.
However, by that time, the fire had claimed four lives, police and fire brigade department said.
The corpses were removed by the firemen and taken to the hospital for autopsy.
The deceased have been identified as Chimanram Chaudhary (45), Dnyanudevi Chaudhary (40), Sachin Chaudhary (10) and Bhavesh Chaudhary (15).
According to Balasaheb Vaidya, sub-fire officer, who coordinated the operation, the family had been staying inside the shop for the past 17 years and returned from a pleasure trip to Kashmir, two days ago.
{{/usCountry}}According to Balasaheb Vaidya, sub-fire officer, who coordinated the operation, the family had been staying inside the shop for the past 17 years and returned from a pleasure trip to Kashmir, two days ago.
{{/usCountry}}“Their neighbour told us that the family used to lock the shop shutter from inside and outside. They used to enter the shop from a side door which they used to lock from inside. When we reached the shop after the fire incident, the shutter door was locked inside out and we gained entry from the side door. The family died due to intense flames and smoke which accumulated inside. Half the shop was burnt and the remaining portion has been found to be melted. The shop had hardware, electronics material and painting material stocked inside , all of these led to huge smoke inside,” Vaidya said.
The fire brigade officials struggle to open the door as the shutter of the shop was closed with seven to eight locks.
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), however, ruled out short circuit as cause of fire.
“The MSEDCL engineer visited the spot and found the meter and cables intact,” said MSEDCL public relation officer in a statement.
A total of 11 fire vehicles including one tender each from Chikhali and another from the headquarters were rushed to the spot to bring the fire under control. It took around 25 minutes to bring the situation under control but around one hour and 30 minutes to bring out the dead bodies.
“The hardware shop is spread over 600 square feet area and the family had illegally constructed a kitchen and another room at the top portion inside the shop. The two rooms were used for residential purposes by the deceased,” fire department stated.
Vaidya said, “The deaths took place due to lack of ventilation and oxygen inside the shop.”
The bodies of the deceased were handed over to the relatives following post mortem.
The Chikhali police have registered a case related to accidental death while the PCMC administration has instituted a committee to check the lapses which led to their deaths.