Early this morning, at around 4:00 A.M., a fire broke out in the parking lot of RJES apartment in Vadapalani. The smoke engulfed the apartment suffocating four people in their sleep.
Five people were severely injured in the fire and were sent to the hospital for recovery. The victims who didn’t make it out alive were identified as Meenakshi (65,) Selvi (30,) Sandhya (10,) and Sanjay (3.)
The police have reported the fire started because of a faulty junction box on the ground floor. The fire spread in the parking lot and the smoke engulfed the first two floors of the four storey apartment.
The severely injured were admitted to the Government Kilpauk Hospital and their condition is said to be critical.
A senior fire department spokesperson reported,”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.”
Nearly 20 vehicles parked on the ground floor caught fire and emitted toxic fumes that suffocated the residents. The vehicles have all been charred and gutted due to the fire. A case has been reported and further investigation is being carried out to learn the actual cause of the fire.
