Five of family charred to death in Tamil Nadu

Police believe a short circuit may have triggered the blaze that swept through a house in Salem which was home to two families.

Salem: Five members of a family were burnt to death in Tamil Nadu after a fire broke out at their house in Salem early Friday. All the five were asleep when the fire started.

Anbalagan (50), a resident of Narasodhipatti in Salem along with his brother Karthi (40) ran a woodworking plant in Salem. The brothers and their families also lived in the house in Ramasamy Nagar.

In the wee hours of Friday, a fire broke out on the ground floor of the house.

Firefighters immediately rushed to the spot and tried to save the family on the ground floor. But unfortunately, Karthi, his wife Maheshwari (35), sons Sharwesh (12), Mukesh (10) died. Similarly, Anbalagan's wife Maheshwari (35) was also killed in the fire.

Anbalagan is receiving treatment at the Salem Government Hospital and he is in a life-threatening condition.

Anbalagan's parents and his daughter Soumya, who were sleeping upstairs, were rescued by the fire department before the fire spread upstairs.

During the initial investigation, Police suspect electric short circuit to be the reason for the blaze. Salem District Collector Raman and Salem Metropolitan Police Commissioner Senthilkumar visited the spot.