Cooking Mishap Kills Two in Yakutpura

 Hyderabad: A couple died due to suffocation and their niece was battling for her life following a cooking-related fire mishap, which was exacerbated by firecrackers stored at their home in Yakutpura, police on Tuesday.

Mohan Lal (50) and his wife Usha Bai (49) were preparing Diwali sweets on a stove in the balcony of their first-floor home in East Chandranagar, Yakutpura, when their LPG cylinder started to leak and the gas caught fire.

"The fire erupted at 11.40 pm on Monday. There was a powerful explosion as firecrackers were stored in the drawing room," Rein Bazaar inspector Ramesh Naik said.

Mohan's sisters Shivani and Gayatri, who were in the terrace at the time, alerted the police.

Police and fire officials rushed to the scene and controlled the fire. The couple's niece Shruti Gupta (21) is being treated in Yashoda Hospital in Malakpet. Shruti suffered burns and developed an infection in her lungs after inhaling toxic smoke.

The victims' bodies have been shifted to Osmania General Hospital morgue.