Hotelier’s house inferno: Two succumbed to burn injures, others died of asphyxiation

Bhubaneswar: A day after five persons perished in a house inferno here, the postmortem report revealed that two among them succumbed to burns while the remaining three died of asphyxiation.
According to the report, hotelier Satpal Singh’s younger son Gaganpal Singh (39) and daughter-in-law Bhabana Singh (38) succumbed to burn injuries sustained in the fire. His grandson Ruveer Singh (4) and housemaid Tanu Das (12) died of asphyxiation while his granddaughter Suhavi Singh (12) lost her life due to burn injuries and asphyxiation.
The fire, suspected to have erupted due to an electric short circuit on the first floor of the three-storey building early on Thursday, engulfed the second floor where all the five members of the family were sleeping.
Satpal, his wife and elder brother were rescued by fire fighter from the ground floor. Ganganpal’s elder brother Harmanpal and his family were sleeping on the first floor. Harmanpal’s elder son reportedly jumped into the swimming pool from the first floor after the house caught fire, but neither he nor anyone in the family called fire brigade or police. It was the neighbours who informed police after spotting smoke billowing from the house.
Scientific team and Police Commissioner Y B Khurania visited and studied the spot later in the day.