In a tragic incident, three members of a family from Tindivanam was killed after their air conditioner exploded and caused a fatal fire. The victims have been identified as 60-year-old Raju, his wife Kala (52), and their son Goutham (24). 

The three were sleeping in a room at their residence in Kaveripakkam, when the air conditioner short circuited and the sparks caused a fire. The fire then quickly spread across the mattress and eventually the entire room, and had charred the three. Raju’s other son Govardhan and daughter-in-law, who were sleeping in another room, escaped the tragedy.

According to reports, the incident occurred at around 3 am on Wednesday morning. Govardhan was alerted after the AC exploded and the sound woke him up. He along with a few neighbors tried to help those inside, but as the room was locked from the inside, they could not save them.

Police have stated that the family had bought the air conditioner over five years ago, but had not even serviced it once. “The unit may not have been able to handle the power fluctuations due to lack of maintenance. Only the indoor unit had caught fire, the outdoor unit of the AC was still working when we got there,” said police officials. They further speculated that the three victims may have fainted due to the presence of gas, but are yet to ascertain this.

One of the victims, Goutham, was to be married on June 6.

Fire and rescue services were alerted who then rushed to the spot and extinguished the flames. The bodies of the deceased have been shifted to the Government Villupuram Medical College and Hospital for postmortem. Tindivanam police have registered a case.