Pune (Maharashtra), May 6 (IANS) Five members of a family here were charred to death in a midnight fire that engulfed their tenement while they were asleep, police said Friday. One girl had a miraculous escape.

The fire broke out just after midnight in a bamboo warehouse in Burud Gully and quickly spread to the adjoining areas of Ganesh Peth locality, according to police inspector Shivaji Shinde of the Pune Control Room.

The Ghorpade family, living in a tenement adjacent to the bamboo warehouse, was caught completely unawares as the leaping flames engulfed them and charred them to death while they were sleeping.

The victims who perished in the blaze are Sanjay, his wife Archana, brother Mahesh and his wife Surekha and a minor, Shravani.

However, another daughter, Shrutika, had a miraculous escape and survived with some minor burns, Shinde said.

The cause of the fire is being investigated and the entire Ganesh Peth locality has been kept off bounds for business Friday.

Shinde said the fire was brought under control around 4 a.m. and the bodies have been sent for autopsy.