THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: People of Varkala bid a tearful adieu to the five members of a family, including an eight-month-old toddler, who were killed when a fire broke out at their house at Ayanthiyil near Varkala on Saturday. The funeral of the five was held on the premises of their house after the bodies were kept for the public to pay homage. The incident took place in the wee hours of Tuesday and the bodies had been kept at the mortuary of Paripally Government Medical College Hospital for four days for postmortem and forensic examinations.
The bodies of 24-year-old Abhirami and eight-month-old Rayan were kept for the public to pay last respects at her house at Vakkom in the morning and later shifter to Varkala. They were laid to rest in one coffin. The fire broke out in the house of Prathapan, who was a wholesale vegetable dealer at Puthenchantha. Prathapan, 64, his wife Sherly, 53, son Akhil, 25, daughter-in-law Abhirami and her toddler Rayan were killed in the blaze.
Abhirami’s husband Nikhil is critically injured and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The Fire and Rescue officials said the fire broke out by 1.45am. One of the neighbours first spotted the fire and smoke billowing from the house and immediately alerted Nikhil over the phone. However, the family members could not be rescued.
All the bedrooms had air conditioners, false ceilings and curtains and that worsened the scenario, said the Fire and Rescue Services officials. Prima facie, it appeared that the deaths happened due to smoke poisoning. The family members, it seems, were stuck in their rooms and could not come out. Because of false ceilings and heavy curtains, air circulation was poor in the bedrooms. Abhirami and her child were found dead in the bathroom.
‘Fire due to short circuit’
Meanwhile, the Varkala police probing the incident said that the fire broke out due to a short circuit and spark triggered from the loose electrical installations inside the house. “Earlier, the house was a single-storey building and another storey was constructed later.
So the electrical installations were old. Moreover, all the rooms were closed with air conditioners and there was no proper ventilation,” said P Ajith Kumar, Varkala inspector of police. General Education Minister V Sivankutty visited the house of the deceased and placed a wreath on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.Sivankutty told mediapersons that all legal assistance would be provided to the relatives of the family in finding out the exact reason of the fire accident.