4 People, Including 2 Children, Choke To Death In Fire At Chennai Apartment

CHENNAI: Four people including two children died in Chennai's Vadapalani area after a fire broke out at their apartment building at around 5:30am on Monday morning. Fire fighters rescued seven people before the situation was brought under control.

Police said that four of the seven who were admitted to a hospital died of suffocation after inhaling too much smoke. None of them suffered any burn injuries. The deceased are identified as Meenakshi(60), Selvi(35), Shalini(10) and Sanjay(3).

"We rescued seven of them but four have died in the hospital. Two of them are children. They died because they inhaled a lot of smoke. None of them suffered any burn injury," a senior fire department official said.

Fire department officials suspect that the fire was caused because of an electrical defect in the stilted parking area of the apartment building. The family lived on the first floor of the four-storey building, with the stilted parking just below them. Nine other residents are also undergoing treatment after inhaling the smoke.

At least 20 bikes that were parked in the cellar were completely gutted.