A 93-year-old woman and her 27-year-old caretaker were asphyxiated to death after a fire broke out in their house in Kumaran Nagar, Chennai on Sunday, August 21. The elderly woman’s daughter Jaya (27) was able to survive the fire as she was sleeping in a different room.
Janaki, the 93-year-old woman, lived on 12th Avenue in Ashok Nagar with her caretaker Jayapriya. Reports say that Janaki was bedridden which is why her son had appointed Jayapriya to take care of her. The caretaker was from Tiruvallur and was staying overnight as Janaki needed assistance. According to The New Indian Express, the apartment that the three of them resided in was old and had numerous wood carvings. On Sunday night, neighbours reportedly saw smoke coming from their house and the police were called. The Kumaran Nagar police station rushed to the spot at around 1:30 am. Fire rescue personnel also arrived within 10 minutes, according to reports.
The three women were found unconscious and were rescued by the firefighting personnel after 20 minutes. All of them were admitted to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. Jaya was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) while Janaki and Jayapriya had died from inhaling smoke from the fire. According to the fire rescue personnel, the fire had started in the kitchen and eventually spread to the rest of the house because of the wooden carvings.
Even though Janaki’s bed did not catch fire, she and her caretaker Jayapriya had inhaled a lot of smoke as their door and windows were shut. Police also say that Janaki’s daughter Jaya was able to survive the fire because she slept in a different room and had kept her windows open. The Kumaran Nagar police have registered a case and further investigation is underway.