CHENNAI: A woman and her daughter died of suffocation in sleep after an air-conditioner unit at their home exploded due to suspected power fluctuation emanating noxious fumes on Saturday in Ambattur. The deceased were identified as R Hasina Begum (50) and her daughter Nazriya (16) of Menamedu. Police sources said Hasina was working in a private school as a domestic help while her daughter was a Class 11 student of another private school near her house. Hasina’s husband Rahmath passed away a few years ago and the two were staying alone in the rented house.
“After seeing smoke billowing out from the house, a few neighbours broke open the door around 5am on Saturday. The mother and the daughter were found lying unconscious on the floor and they were rushed to a nearby hospital. Hasina was declared dead on arrival by the doctors at the hospital,” a police officer said. Sources said doctors gave emergency treatment to Nazriya but she too died a few hours later. “The cause of death was suffocation. They may have inhaled smoke while sleeping and could have been immobilised before they could react,” a fire services officer said.
Based on preliminary investigation, police said there was power fluctuation in the locality from Friday night to Saturday morning.“We suspect that this could have triggered short-circuit in the air-conditioner. As the AC unit was not serviced for a long time, even a faulty wire could have caused the spark. The AC was found to be completely gutted. The smoke may have spread rapidly,” a fire services officer said.The Ambattur police have registered a case and sent the bodies to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital for postmortem. Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijayakumar and revenue officials visited the spot. A probe is on.