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Four members of a family died due to asphyxiation after inhaling smoke from a bike kept on for the entire night in Andhra Pradesh’s Annamayya district, police said on Sunday, March 15.
The tragic incident occurred in Punganur town on the intervening night of March 14 and 15. An elderly man, his two granddaughters, and his grandson died in their sleep at their home on Tyagaraja Street.
According to police, a man named Murali, who runs a hair salon, had his motorbike serviced by a mechanic on March 14. Due to a problem in the engine, the mechanic replaced the bore piston and reportedly advised Murali to keep the engine on for the entire night.
Murali closed all the windows of the house and kept the bike on. While Murali and his wife Revati went to sleep on the terrace, his father Ramachandraiah, their son Karthik, and twin daughters Charita and Chandana slept in the house.
The smoke from the bike filled the house as all doors and windows were closed. Ramchandraiah (70), his twin granddaughters Charita and Chandana, aged 8, and grandson Karthik (15) were found dead on the morning of March 15.
Murali and his wife survived as they slept on the terrace.
Police shifted the bodies for post-mortem examination. Preliminary investigation showed that they all died due to asphyxiation after inhaling carbon monoxide.