Seven people were charred to death and five others injured in a fire that broke out at a residential building in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh early on Saturday morning.
Officials said the blaze started around 4am in the basement of the building in Swarn Bagh colony of Madhya Pradesh`s Indore city, 200 kms from state capital Bhopal, and soon engulfed the entire structure.
Five fire tenders were pressed into service and it took them nearly four hours to douse the flames.
"At the time, all the occupants of the building were fast asleep. Seven burnt bodies were recovered by the firemen from the building. Nine people were also rescued, of which five have been hospitalised," a senior fire officer told the local media.
Police claimed to have detained the building`s owner Ansar Patel in connection with the fire. "He has been booked for causing death by negligence for not installing any fire safety system in the building," a police officer said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to Twitter to offer his condolences.
"I pray to God to give place to the departed souls at his feet and give strength to the family members to bear this deep sorrow and to give speedy recovery to the injured," the Chief Minister tweeted.
A probe has been ordered into the fire, the fire officer said. "Preliminary probe points to an electrical short-circuit in the basement."
Building fires are common in India, and are often attributed to poor maintenance and absence of basic fire safety systems. A number of people die in such fires every year.
