One person died and another sustained grievous burn injuries when a fire erupted as one of them was welding a diesel tank of a cargo autorickshaw at Paraipatti near here on Monday.

Police identified the deceased as A. Selvakumar, 30, of Nathampatti and the injured as A. Sivasamy, 40, of Paraipatti.

The police said Selvakumar, who was running a workshop at Sivagamipuram, brought the diesel tank of the cargo autorickshaw to plug a hole to the workshop run by Mr. Sivasamy. When Mr. Sivasamy tried to use the welding machine to plug the hole, the tank caught fire and the duo were caught in the fire within seconds.

The police suspect that diesel in the tank would not have been thoroughly drained before they started to weld the hole and the heat could have led to the fire.

Selvakumar was killed on the spot and Sivasamy has been admitted to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai with 70% burns. Sivakasi East police are investigating.