Couple, 3 children die of asphyxiation as house catches fire in Ghaziabad

Five members of a family, including three children, died of asphyxiation when their house in Chaman Colony here caught fire due to a short circuit, police said today.

The five persons were found dead in their house last night and the room in which they had been sleeping was full of smoke due to a fire caused by a short circuit, superintendent of police (city) AK Vijeta said.

The deceased - Shahid, 35, his wife Nageena, 30, their two daughters Neba, 6, and Nagma, 4 and son Ayub, 2, - did not receive any burn injuries but died due to suffocation caused by the smoke, he said.

The victims' neighbours noticed the fire and called the fire brigade, but all five were found dead when the doors of their house were opened by personnel of the fire department, he said.

The bodies of all five have been sent for post mortem, the SP said.