COIMBATORE: Three truck drivers were charred to death and four others suffered severe burns in a freak fire mishap in Coimbatore.
Police identified the deceased as Azhagar Raja, 30, Muthu Kumar, 24 and Chinna Karuppu alias Karuppusamy, 26, all hailing from Theni district and working as drivers of petrol tankers by staying in a room on rental at Muthugoundenpudur near Sulur. Three others Dinesh, Veeramani and Manoj suffered severe burns, while Pandeeswaran sustained simple burns.
Police said Azhagar Raja fatally knocked down a 54 year old woman riding a two-wheeler near Singanallur on Monday morning. After inquiries, he was left off on bail on Monday night.
“After coming to the room, he consumed liquor along with his friends, while Pandeeswaran was preparing food around midnight. Then, one of them had poured petrol in a one litre bottle from a container near the stove. Unfortunately, the petrol spilled out and caught fire,” police said.
As they all were heavily drunk, they couldn’t escape and three persons died on the spot. On receiving an alert from neighbours, the fire and rescue personnel arrived at the spot and doused the fire.
The injured were rushed to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for treatment. The Sulur police have registered a case and further inquiries are on.
Coimbatore district Superintendent of Police V Badrinarayanan and senior revenue officials visited the spot and held inquiries.