The police have confirmed that the fire which claimed five lives in Varkala in the early hours of Tuesday had its origins outside the house.
According to the police, motorcycles parked in a car porch outside the two-storeyed house had caught fire first. The petrol tank of one of the two-wheelers exploded, and the blaze quickly spread inside the house.
While an electrical spark is suspected to be the trigger for the fire, the exact cause is yet to be ascertained, the police said.
In the aftermath, there was confusion as to whether the fire had its origins outside the house or inside it. CCTV footage from a neighbouring house helped the investigators confirm the initial location of the blaze. The police have also ruled out suicide. The family was well off and on good terms with the neighbours, they police said.
The deaths were caused by asphyxiation caused by the inhalation of smoke from the fire. Smoke hung thick inside the house, which had air conditioners in several of the rooms.
The Thiruvananthapuram Rural Police have constituted a special team headed by Varkala DySP P. Niyas to probe the incident. R. Nishanthini, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram Range, is in overall charge of the investigation.
The fire had broke out around 1.45 a.m. on Tuesday at the residence of R. Prathapan, alias Baby, 62, of Rahul Nivas, Cherunniyoor. The deceased included Prathapan and his wife Sherly, 53, their youngest son Ahil, 25, daughter-in-law Abhirami, 24, and her son Ryan. Abhirami’s husband Nihul, 29, the second of Prathapan’s three sons, has been hospitalised.
