Five charred to death in a house fire

Four family members of a hotel owner and a domestic help were charred to death in a major fire in his house here today, police said.
The fire broke out early in the morning when the family members were asleep and residents in the neighbourhood informed the police and the fire brigade after noticing thick smoke billowing out of the building, they said.
Deputy fire officer Ramesh Chandra Majhi said the fire brigade team rescued six persons from the fire-engulfed house of Satpal Singh, businessman and owner of a well-known hotel here, and sent them to hospital.
Five of them who had sustained critical burns were declared brought dead in the hospital, said Dr C R Das, Director of the Capital hospital here.

While four of the deceased were family members of the house owner, another was a woman employee, he said adding that post-mortem on the bodies were conducted.
Another member of the family was undergoing treatment at the hospital and his condition was stated to be stable.

Majhi said the fire appeared to have spread rapidly apparently due to woodworks in the building.
While electric short circuit was suspected to be the reason behind the mishap, the exact cause would be ascertained after a through probe, he said.
The deceased were identified as Singh's younger son, daughter-in-law, grand daughter, grandson and house maid, police said.