Five members of a family, including an eight-month-old infant, were charred to death in a massive blaze that ripped through a two-storeyed house near Varkala early Tuesday.
Another resident continued to battle for his life with serious burns.
The deceased included R. Prathapan, alias Baby, 62, of Rahul Nivas in Cherunniyoor, his wife Sherly, 53, their youngest son Ahil, 25, daughter-in-law Abhirami, 24, and her son Ryan. Abhirami’s husband Nihul, 29, the second of Prathapan’s three sons, remained critical in a city hospital.
The incident occurred at Dalavapuram, a short distance away from the Varkala block panchayat office, around 1.45 a.m.
The blaze was first spotted by the family’s neighbour K. Shashankan who found three of the four two-wheelers that were parked in the car porch go up in flames. On hearing a deafening sound from within the house, his daughter called Nihul on his mobile phone. A panic-stricken Nihul, who responded and soon hung up the call, rushed outside the house having sustained burns, the police said.
The efforts made by their neighbours to rescue them were impeded by the automatic sliding gate that required a remote control to open. The presence of a dog too deterred them from entering the premises.
Personnel from the Varkala police station and a fire force team soon forced their way into the house. They located the charred bodies of the residents in different rooms. While Abhirami and Ryan were found lying in a bathroom on the first floor, Ahil was found in another room on the same floor. The bodies of Prathapan and Sherly were found in the ground floor room. The bodies were all shifted to a private hospital and later transferred to the Parippally Government Medical College Hospital where autopsy will be conducted.
Officials from the Electrical Inspectorate and the fire force suspected the fire to have been triggered by a short circuit in an air-conditioner installed in a hall on the ground floor. With most rooms air-conditioned, the house was poorly ventilated. The false ceiling made using gypsum boards is believed to have hastened the spread of fire.
Kerala Fire and Rescue Services Director (Technical) M. Noushad said the deaths are suspected to have occurred due to asphyxiation by smoke inhalation.
District Collector Navjot Khosa said the findings of the police, fire force, and forensic experts were awaited to ascertain the actual cause of the fire outbreak. R. Nishanthini, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram Range, said no finding that pointed to the possibility of arson had been found yet.
Prathapan has been running a wholesale and retail vegetable business in Puthenchantha in Varkala for nearly 40 years. The trading community in the region downed their shutters for a day as a mark of respect. His eldest son Akhil is settled abroad with his family.
