CHANDIGARH: Three girl students living in a paying guest accommodation died and two were injured after a fire broke out in a house in Sector 32 of the city.
The girls were in the age group of 19 to 22 years. They have been identified as Muskan from Hisar in Haryana who was a first-year M.Com student at GGSD College in Sector 32, Pakshi Grover of Kotkapura in Faridkor district of Punjab who was a first-year BBA student and Riya from Kapurthala.
Two of the girls died due to suffocation as they were found unconscious in a room while Muskan succumbed to burn injuries.
They were declared brought dead at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.
The two injured students have been identified as Femina from Moga in Punjab and Jasmine from Fatehabad in Haryana.
They are under treatment and their condition is stated to be stable.
"Around 35 girls were staying on different floors of the OG which had many fire safety violations as there was an irregular construction on the top floor of the building. At time of fire incident, most of them were out of the PG,’’ said a police official.
Sources said that the cause of the fire is suspected to be a laptop battery explosion. The blaze was reported on the first floor of the house which was divided with wooden partitions with three rooms, having a common entry from an alley.
The fire spread in other rooms due to the partition and was brought under control within half an hour.
"There was very low visibility because of smoke and fire. Many items, including fan, fridge, beds, on the first floor were burnt,’’ said a fire official.