New Delhi, Dec 6 (UNI) A 31-year-old man and his wife, who ran a grocery store in Delhi’s Tikri Kalan, suffocated to death after being trapped inside their store during a fire, police said on Saturday.
According to the police, they received a PCR call on Friday, reporting smoke and flames coming from a shop in the neighbourhood, they said.
“A police team arrived at the site and found that the grocery shop’s shutter was partially down, with thick smoke filling the interior,” a senior officer said.
The officer added that, according to the preliminary investigation, the fire is believed to have started from a short circuit in the shop’s counter area, which rapidly ignited the plastic packets stored in the shop.
The officer added that as the fire spread and smoke engulfed the confined space, an electric current running through the shutter trapped the couple inside, preventing their escape.
“In their attempt to escape, the couple tried to lift the shutter but became trapped, leading to severe suffocation,” the officer stated.
The deceased, identified as Vineet (31) and his wife Renu (29), from Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district, ran the grocery store but eventually died from suffocation, the police said.
The police team forced open the shutter and rescued the couple, who were rushed to Oscar Hospital in Bahadurgarh, where the attending doctors declared the duo brought dead.
The crime team and fire brigade personnel examined the site, and further investigations are ongoing, police added.
