KOCHI : Four members of a family, including two children, died after fire engulfed the bedroom of their house in Parakkulam, Angamaly, in the early hours of Saturday. The deceased are Bineesh Kurian, 45, of Ayyampilly House, his wife Anumol, 40, and their children Jowana, 8, and Jeswin, 5. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the police said.
Morning walkers noticed the fire in the upstairs bedroom around 5am and alerted the fire and rescue services department. Yohannan, a neighbour, said he was alerted about the fire by a newspaper agent.
“When I reached the house, I saw Bineesh’s mother — who lives on the ground floor — screaming, standing outside the house. There is a nutmeg drying unit near the house and a worker is staying there. He was pouring water in an attempt to douse the fire. Soon, I called in people from our neighbourhood and informed the fire force station in Angamaly. Though we attempted to break into the bedroom, which has access from outside the house, it was locked from the inside,” Yohannan said. Only the bedroom where the family was sleeping was gutted, he said. “By 5.30am, fire force officers reached the place and doused the fire. The reason for the fire is not known,” he added.
According to Ernakulam Rural Police Chief Vaibhav Saxena, it was not a major fire and was doused quickly by the fire force personnel. After fire tenders doused the fire, the charred bodies of the deceased were recovered. “The Angamaly police have launched a probe into the incident after registering a case for unnatural death. Forensic experts examined the area to ascertain the reason for the fire. We are checking whether the fire spread from the air conditioner. As a detailed examination was required, the autopsy was performed at the Government Medical College in Kalamassery,” Saxena said.
The bodies of the couple were found on the bed, while those of the children were lying close to the door. It is suspected that the children made attempts to escape when fire started spreading in the room. Also the air conditioner unit inside the room was completely burnt. KSEB officials too visited the room and checked the electrical lines. The preliminary assumption is that the fire spread from the air conditioner in the room. In the postmortem examination, traces of black smoke were found in the chests of the deceased, the police.
Angamaly MLA Roji M John, who visited the house, said that police and the fire force officials have ruled out short circuit as a reason for the fire. “We all know Bineesh well. He was running a shop in Angamaly,” he said. Bineesh was into nutmeg trading business, besides running a shop in Angamaly.