Thane: Short circuit in AC kills 70-year-old woman, husband sustains burns

MUMBAI: A 70-year-old woman died of suffocation while her elderly husband sustained serious burns after their bedroom air conditioner caught fire in their Mira Road home in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Neighbours in the morning alerted the Kashimira police and the Mira-Bhayander fire brigade after they saw smoke coming from flat no 72 in Vrishparva building.
Firemen forced entry into the room and found Geeta Anand and her husband Anil lying on the bed. The bedroom was badly charred. Firemen suspect a short circuit in the AC to be the cause. The couple was moved to the hospital where Geeta was declared dead. Anil, who sustained burns, is under treatment.
Firemen said that the couple could have been fast asleep when the fire broke out. Geeta may have died of suffocation after inhaling the smoke. The body has been sent for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.
The couple's children, a daughter who lives in Mira Road and a son who stays in Singapore have been informed.
A case of accidental death has been registered. Police are investigating that with heavy rains in the region on Wednesday, why the couple needed to switch on the AC.