THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Five members of a family, including an infant aged just eight months, died after a fire broke out in their two-storey house at Cherunniyoor near Varkala during the early hours of Tuesday.
Prathapan, 62, his wife Sherly, 53, their youngest son Ahul, 29, daughter-in-law Abhirami, 25, and her eight-month-old son, Rayan, are the deceased. Abhirami's husband, Nihul was admitted to a private hospital with over 50% burn injuries.
Officials with the fire department said that they received an alert around 2am that the house has caught fire. Firefighting units from Varkala and Kallambalam fire stations immediately reached the spot and doused the fire. They found the bodies inside in various rooms. The fire appeared to have originated from the living room and had spread to the ceiling. The flight of stairs to the first floor too was gutted in the fire.
A neighbor said he spotted heavy smoke and fire billowing from the house around 1.45am. He said he heard the crackling noise of the house burning and when he leaned over the wall, he saw the two wheelers in the car porch on fire. He alerted Prathapan's relatives who lived nearby. They called Nihul on phone and alerted him about the fire.
According to the local residents they saw Nihul running through the flames, screaming for help from the fire and rescue personnel who had reached by then, to save his wife and son. The lower part of his body was on fire by the time he reached outside and he collapsed in front of the house.
The police said that Prathapan and Sherly were found in their bedroom on the ground floor of the house. Ahul's body was found in his bedroom while the bodies of Abhirami and Rayan were recovered from the bathroom near their bedroom. Though all of them were rushed to hospital, the doctors declared them dead. The police also said though the family members were found dead in their respective rooms, the rooms did not suffer much damages from the fire. Their bodies too bore minimal burn injuries and police suspect that they died inhaling toxic air.
Prathapan was a wholesale vegetable dealer at Puthanchantha market near Varkala. Nihul and Ahul helped him in his business. His eldest son Rahul and family are settled in Gulf.
