BHUBANESWAR: An elderly couple and their minor granddaughter died under tragic circumstances in an early morning fire that broke out at Basanti Villa apartment (S+4) in the city’s Jharpada Canal road area on Wednesday.
Trapped inside their two-room house on the stilt floor of the apartment, the victims could not escape with fire approaching from the front door. The incident occurred after 4 am, possibly due to short-circuit in the panel board of the building. The area comes under Laxmisagar police limits.
The couple, 62-year-old Biswanath Behera, his wife Sulabha Behera (60), was believed to have suffocated to death though burn injuries were found on their bodies. They were rushed to Capital Hospital here where doctors declared them received dead. Their 10-year-old granddaughter Tejaswini was referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack where she succumbed during treatment.
Biswanath, a native of Gopinathpur in Khurda district, was employed as the caretaker of the apartment for the last eight years and stayed on the stilt floor of the building along with his wife. The elderly couple stayed in the resident manager unit, comprising two rooms, located on the right side of the stairs. Granddaughter Tejaswini, a Class IV student, had come to the city to visit her grandparents when the incident took place.
Officials of the Odisha Fire and Emergency Service said, the panel board of the building was installed on the left side of the main staircase of the building. To the right of the staircase was the two-room unit of Biswanath.
Investigation revealed that the fire erupted from the panel board, caught onto the tyres of bicycles parked in front of the staircase and rapidly spread. Biswanath’s house had an iron grill followed by a plywood door. As the plywood door eventually caught fire, the blaze quickly spread to the two rooms and triggered a plume of smoke.
The investigators suspect the trio could not escape owing to the thick smoke and possibly fainted due to suffocation. The smoke subsequently engulfed the entire building but the fire services personnel evacuated over 25 residents of the building who were in a state of panic.
Meanwhile, the minor girl’s mother alleged her daughter was shifted to SCB MCH without informing them and they had no clue where she was admitted.
Deputy fire officer Narayan Dash said they were informed about the incident at around 4.41 am. “The trio had sustained burn injuries and also experienced respiratory difficulties due to smoke inhalation,” he added.
The fire officer further pointed out that the apartment did not have any fire safety equipment like extinguishers. Some residents also alleged that the electric vehicle charging points were putting an additional load on the apartment’s power grid.
Laxmisagar IIC Shyam Sundar Rao said the elderly couple and the minor girl had sustained burn injuries. “However, prima facie it appears they died of suffocation. The exact reason behind the deaths can be ascertained after receiving the postmortem reports. Further investigation is underway,” he added.
The elderly couple is survived by two sons, their wives, grandson and another granddaughter.