Fire at hardware shop kills 4 of a family in Maharashtra's Pune district

A fire at an electric hardware shop claimed the lives of four members of a family, including two minors in Pimpri Chinchwad town in Pune on Wednesday.

The incident took place at 5.25 am in the shop located in Pooja Heights building at Purna Nagar in Chikhli area of Pimpri Chinchwad, they said.

"So far, bodies of four people, who were sleeping on the mezzanine of the hardware shop located on the building's ground floor, have been recovered, a fire official from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation said.

The blaze has been extinguished and the cooling process is on, he said.

Officials said a short-circuit may have caused the fire. However, an investigation is on, they added

The deceased have been identified as Chimnaram Chowdhary (48), Namrata Chimnaram Chowdhary (40), Bhavesh Chowdhary (15) and Sachin Choudhary (13), the officials said.