Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Jan 5: A 34-year-old software engineer from Mangaluru died of asphyxiation after a fire broke out in her apartment in Ramamurthy Nagar late on Saturday night.

The deceased has been identified as Sharmila, a resident of Kavoor in Mangaluru. She had moved to Bengaluru about a year ago in pursuit of better career opportunities and was living in an apartment complex at Subramanya Layout.

The incident occurred at around 11 pm. Sharmila, who had been sharing the apartment with a roommate for the past 18 months, was alone at the time as her friend had travelled out of town for the weekend.

According to preliminary reports, the fire is suspected to have been triggered by a short circuit in one of the rooms. Within minutes, the apartment was engulfed in thick, toxic smoke.

As the fire spread, the power supply to the building was disrupted, plunging the flat into complete darkness. Trapped inside the smoke-filled apartment and unable to locate doors or windows to ventilate the room, Sharmila is believed to have succumbed to smoke inhalation.

Furniture, including beds and curtains, was completely gutted in the blaze. The Ramamurthy Nagar police shifted the body for a post-mortem examination, which has since been completed, and the remains were handed over to her family.

A case has been registered, and police are carrying out a detailed investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the suspected electrical failure.