A couple and their three children were killed in a massive fire that broke out at a five-storey building in the Chamanganj area of Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. Huge flames engulfed the entire building located in the Prem Nagar area. The five-storey structure houses a shoe manufacturing factory on its first and second floors.
A family member of the deceased said, "Fire broke out due to a short circuit in the building. Five people, including three children have died...The incident took place between 8.30-8.45 pm last night."
The police said that seeing the intensity of the blaze the couple's three daughters -- Sara (15), Simra (12), and Inaya (7). The bodies of Mohammad Danish and his wife Nazneen Saba (42) were recovered from the fourth floor of the building.
According to the information, it took firefighters hours to gain access to the fourth floor, where the couple's bodies were discovered. According to police, neighbours first noticed huge flames and thick smoke emanating from the building on Sunday night and alerted fire station and police.
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Assistant Commissioner of Police (Seesmau) Manjay Singh said an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire. "While the exact reason remains unclear, initial suspicions point towards a possible short circuit or faults in the internal wiring, potentially originating from the floors where the shoe factory was operating," the ACP said.
"The fire led to blasts in a couple of domestic LPG cylinders that worsened the situation," he added. Efforts to completely extinguish the blaze are underway, the officials said, adding that people from over half a dozen buildings nearby have been evacuated to insure their safety.