Five persons including four family members of city-based hotelier Satpal Singh died of suffocation when fire broke out in Budheswari colony residence in Bhubaneswar early on Thursday.
The hotelier, however, escaped with serious injuries. He was undergoing treatment in government-run Capital Hospital here. The victims are identified as son Gagan Pal Singh (40), daughter-in-law Bhawna Singh (38), grandson Rubir Singh abd granddaughter Sohabi Singh. A maid identified as Khushi Das also died.
Although fire service personnel rescued all six persons live, five of them were believed to have succumbed to injuries on their way to hospital.
According to preliminary investigation, the fire emanated from an air conditioner and soon smoke spread out in different rooms.
The smoke was spotted by neighbours in 4.30 am in the morning. They tried to inform security guards deployed in the ground floor. But when they could not put the message across to security guards, they informed police control room which forwarded the message to fire service station.
“We received the information about 5.18 am. When we reached the home of Mr. Singh, all rooms were filled with smoke. We had rescued six persons with their heart beating. The injured persons were rushed to hospital by police and private vehicles. Some victims had skin burn marks,” said Ramesh Chandra Majhi, fire officer. City police were investigating into the incident.