COIMBATORE: Three persons were charred to death and four others sustained severe burn injuries in a fire accident that happened in the wee hours of Tuesday near Sulur in Coimbatore.
The incident took place at a house at Muthugoundenpudur in the city outskirts where all seven persons had stayed on a rental.
According to police, the seven people -- Alaguraja, Muthukumar, Chinnakaruppu, Dinesh, Veeramani, Manoj and Pandeeshwaran -- were working as tanker lorry drivers for an oil company depot situated in Irugur in Coimbatore.
They were transporting fuel from the oil depot in Irugur to the fuel-filling stations in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts.
It is said that they used to take leftover fuel in tanker lorries to the house for their use. It is alleged that around 20 litres of petrol was kept in the house.
On Tuesday, one of the inmates Alaguraja reportedly opened the fuel cane and attempted to fill the fuel into a small cane to pour into a bike.
Police said that a fire erupted from the gas stove to the petrol cane and spread the entire house. All seven people in the house were caught in the fire and sustained serious injuries.
Alaguraja, Chinnakaruppu and Muthukumar died on the spot. The other four sustained serious burn injuries.
The fire service personnel and Sulur Police rushed to the place and put out the fire.
The injured were rescued with more than 60% burn injuries and rushed to CMCH for treatment. Sulur Police registered a case and further investigation is on.