Family of seven killed in fire accident in Cantonment

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

In a tragic accident, seven members of a family including three women and two children, died of suffocation and burning after a fire broke out on the ground floor of the two-storeyed building due to a short-circuit, in Dana Bazaar Lane at Cantonment, on Wednesday at 3.30 am.

It is learned that out of the total deceased, a pregnant woman along with her husband got burnt and died, while the remaining five members of the family died of suffocation in the sleep.

The names of the deceased are Hameeda Begum Abdul Aziz (55, mother), her two sons - Waseem Shaikh Abdul Aziz (35) and Shaikh Sohail Abdul Aziz (32) - and extended family including Tanveer (27, Waseem’s wife), Reshma (22, Sohail’s wife), Aseem (4, Waseem’s son) and Mahanoor (2, Waseem’s daughter). Waseem and Sohail were in the milk business. One and a half years ago, Sohail had lost his twins (daughters). However, he was expecting a baby as his wife was eight months pregnant.

The primary investigation report of the fire brigade and the MSEDCL officials hints that there would be fluctuation in power supply as the stitching was underway by four stitching and one overlocking machine, apart from charging of the e-bike.

It may be noted that the two-storeyed building is owned by Shaikh Aslam Shaikh Yusuf (55). He runs a tailoring shop (King’s Style Tailors) on the ground floor and stays on the first floor with his family comprising three sons, a wife, and two grandchildren. The above-deceased family was staying as a tenant on the second floor and a guest was staying in the room on the terrace floor.

The house-owner kept his e-bike to charging in the night. As the Ramzan festival season is underway, Aslam and his other assistants were awake stitching the clothes till 2 am and then closed the shop. The owner and his two sons were awake till 2.30 am and then went to sleep.

At around 3.15 am, the smoke started coming outside the shutter on the ground floor. Later on, the whole shop caught fire. The incident was noticed by nearby youths and within no time a mob of 120-150 persons gathered near the building. They raised an alarm. Hearing the screams Aslam and his family got awake, but they were unable to come down from the first floor to the ground floor as there was a fire in the stairs. The cloth bundles kept in the shop for sale and the clothes (which were either stitched or to be stitched) all got engulfed into ashes.

In the meantime, a few youths alerted the MSEDCL personnel, who arrived and immediately disconnected the power supply. The youths also made a call to the Fire Brigade at 3.45 am.

Owner descends through ladder

Aslam Shaikh and his family were thinking of jumping from the balcony of the first floor. In the meantime, the youths staying in the neighbourhood brought a ladder and took them out safely.

The couple Shaikh Malik (30) and his wife, who were staying on the terrace floor were also rescued safely. They jumped on the terrace of the neighbour’s building and then came down safely.

Deceased family was on the second floor

The deceased family was staying on the second floor. The youths knowing them tried their best to alert them through phone call or by screaming, but was in vain as the whole family was fast asleep only to wake up for their ‘sehri’ (pre-dawn meal).

There was a spread of darkness as the power supply was disconnected. Even the fire brigade jawans were also unable to go upstairs due to the spread of the fire.

Waseem and Sohail’s family were fast asleep. Till then the fire got aggressive and the family members could not assess the spread of smoke in the rooms due to darkness. Hence they died of suffocation while in sleep. Meanwhile, two persons (a couple) got burnt in the accident.