An 80-year-old man and his wife died after a fire broke out inside their house in Delhi’s Shahdara Saturday afternoon. The elderly couple was found dead and the house was locked from inside, said police, adding that the air conditioner in their room caught fire after a short circuit.
The incident took place in Krishna Nagar where the family lived on the fourth floor. The victims have been identified as Rajkumar Jain and his wife Kamlesh (75). Their son, a businessman, was out for work when the incident took place. Police said the daughter-in-law was also not present inside the house.
A PCR call was received and four fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Delhi Fire Services informed police that the fire gutted the entire floor of the building and residents claimed that an elderly couple might be inside one of the houses.
R Sathiyasundaram, DCP (Shahdara), said, “We broke the iron door as it was locked from inside. Smoke was coming out. The firefighters started searching for the victims. They were found lying unconscious in a room. We rushed them to the hospital but they had died by then.”
During the inquiry, police found that the couple’s daughter-in-law had gone to the market in the morning.
“We suspect that a spark in the air conditioner caused the fire. The smoke prevented the couple from escaping. There’s no foul play”, police said.