Kolkata: Three persons, including a boy, were choked to death, while two others were injured in a fire incident at a factory in Howrah on Wednesday.
According to the police, the deceased were identified as Prakash Yadav (33), Jhanku Yadav (33) and Avishek Yadav (13).
The injured, identified as Kamalesh Yadav and Indu Devi were rushed to a hospital for treatment.
A group of five persons was sleeping inside the shoe factory, when the fire broke out on the first floor of the factory building on early Wednesday.
The situation soon aggravated as the flames went engulfed the second and third floors where the five were asleep. Among them two were workers at the factory, while three others came from Uttar Pradesh to visit their family.
While two of them managed to escape, others failed to flee due to heavy smoke.
Three bodies were recovered later, the police said, adding that three fire tenders were pressed into service. An electric short circuit may have caused the blaze, the fire brigade suspect.
The fire was brought under control within two hours, a local resident, Bibhas Naskar said.
