Chennai (The Hawk): Three sisters, including two ladies, were asphyxiated to death in the early hours of Friday in the Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu.
V. Girija (63), her sister S. Girija, and others were listed as the deceased. Rajkumar, their brother, and Radha, age 55 (48).
Bhargavi, Rajkumar's wife, and Aaradhana, his daughter, are both admitted to the hospital.
According to the police, the family travelled to Chengalpattu to observe the first death anniversary rites for Girija's late husband Venkataraman, who died last year from sickness.
Girija, who was residing in Dubai with her son, returned to the Guduvanchery family flat on November 2 and her siblings and family moved in on Thursday. When a violent explosion in the refrigerator happened, the family was about to leave for their place of employment when the three asphyxiated and died.
While the three siblings slept in the living room, Bhargavi and Aaradhana slept in the bedroom. Bhargavi and Aaradhana also died from suffocation in the smoke that enveloped them when the refrigerator exploded. They broke open the flat's door after the neighbour heard their calls for assistance.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, doctors at the Guduvanchery police station pronounced Rajkumar, Girija, and Radha dead. When brought to the hospital, Bhargavi and Aaradhana were both unconscious; they are currently making a full recovery.
The siblings' remains are deposited in the mortuary of the government hospital in Chengalpattu.
An FIR has been filed by the Guduvanchery police, and an inquiry has begun.
(Inputs from Agencies)
