Chennai: A fire that broke out at a house near Guduvanchery in the early hours of Tuesday killed three of a family — a 34-year-old man, his wife, and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. The cause of the fire remains unclear, and an investigation is under way. Police identified the victims as Parthiban, a construction worker, his wife Chitra, 29, and their daughter Jayashree. The family lived in Pandur village near Guduvanchery. Police said the couple and their child often stayed at the house of Parthiban’s elder sister Maheshwari at JJ Nagar.On Monday evening, Parthiban reportedly consumed alcohol before reaching Maheshwari’s house where his wife and child were. Later that evening, Maheshwari’s son Pavan Kumar fell ill. Maheshwari, her husband Ramnath, 45, and parents Moorthy, 63, and Pushpa, 56, took the child to a private hospital in Selaiyur near Tambaram for treatment, leaving Parthiban, Chitra, and their daughter at the house.When the family returned around 1am, they noticed thick smoke and flames coming through the windows of the house. As there was no response to calls, Maheshwari alerted neighbours, the fire and rescue services and Guduvanchery police personnel. Police said the house was located away from the main road, and neighbouring houses were at some distance, which delayed residents noticing the fire. The house was locked from inside. The Guduvanchery police inspector and other officials later recovered the bodies and sent them to Chengalpet govt hospital for postmortem.Police registered a case and are examining CCTV camera footage from the area to ascertain the cause of the fire. Forensic and fingerprint experts were also called in to collect evidence. Police said there is no evidence so far to confirm that the fire was caused by a mosquito coil. They are also checking whether an electrical short circuit caused the fire.
