Maharashtra: Two women choke to death in fire at apartment

A 70-year-old woman and her grand-daughter were killed in a fire that broke out in their apartment in Maharashtra’s Thane district in the early hours of Tuesday.

The blaze erupted around 3.30 am in the apartment on the third floor of a building in Ghass Baug locality of Kalyan town, sub-officer Namdeo Chowdhary of the civic fire station said.

Local firemen rushed to the scene and doused the flames within half an hour, but the two women had suffocated due to the smoke, he said. The women were rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead, the official said.

Initial reports suggest that a short circuit may have caused the blaze, he said, adding that the local police were probing into the incident further.