Kannur: An eight-month pregnant woman and her husband were charred to death when their car, a Maruti Suzuki S-presso, caught fire minutes away from the Kannur District Hospital.
The deceased have been identified as Reesha K (26) and her husband Prajith T V (32), a civil contractor and resident of Kuttiattoor grama panchayat.
Reesha's daughter Sreeparvathy (8), her parents Kuzhikkal Vishwanathan and Shobha, and her aunt Sajina had a narrow escape and Prajith managed to open the back doors for them in the nick of time.
Passing cars saw the fire under the hatchback's bonnet and alerted Prajith, who was driving the car, said eyewitnesses. He stopped the car but the front passenger door and driver's door were jammed.
Prajith stretched back and opened the rear door and pushed out those behind, they said.
By then the fire sneaked in and enveloped the front of the car. The couple's relatives wailed for help but the fire, fueled by petrol and air, kept passersby at bay. Those who came running in could only throw their hands up in despair.
Officers from the Fire and Rescue Station, 500m away, reached in minutes. But it was over. They could retrieve only the charred remains of the couple.
S-Presso, slotted between Alto 800 and Wagon R, was launched in 2019. Reesha and Prajith bought the VXI petrol variant of the car in December 2020. When contacted, Maruti Suzuki India's regional zonal manager Kenny John Mathew in Kochi said he was not authorised to speak to news media. Another official said they were not aware of a fire accident involving S-presso before Thursday's incident.
In the morning, Reesha's parents and aunt came home to take her to the hospital after she developed stomach pain, said Kuttiattoor ward member Sathyabhama. "We don't know if Reesha had gone into labour," she said.
All six members of the family left in the car to the District Hospital, 25km away. The funeral will be held at 6 pm on Thursday. Prajith's parents Thamaravalappil Gopalan and Kaushilya predeceased him.
