NEW DELHI: In a freak accident, a 72-year-old man died here on Monday after his clothes caught fire from a 'beedi' he was smoking, police said.
A police officer told IANS that Jaichand Vidhuri, 72, died in Govindpuri area of south Delhi on Monday afternoon, after his kurta he was wearing caught fire as a spark from his beedi landed on it.
"Currently it looks like his clothes caught fire from the beedi he was smoking and that led to the death," the officer said.
He added that the body has been sent to All India Institutes of Medical Sciences for autopsy and the cause can be confirmed once the autopsy report arrives.
At around 2 p.m. on Monday, Vidhuri was smoking a beedi at a ground-floor room in his house, while his wife was sleeping in the first floor, when the incident happened.
The officer said that the deceased suffered from old-age related diseases and has been ill for the past three years.
"No one knew that his clothes caught fire and he himself doused the fire. It was only later that his wife got to know about it," the officer said.
Though he was rushed to a nearby hospital, doctors there declared him dead.
The officer said that autopsy will be done on Tuesday at AIIMS. a