Amaravati, March 15 – Four members of a family died due to suffocation after inhaling smoke from a motorcycle that had been running all night in Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh, police said on Sunday.
The tragic incident occurred in the town of Punganur on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
All four people died in their sleep at their home on Tyagaraja Street.
The deceased were identified as the grandfather, his two granddaughters, and a grandson.
According to police, Murali, who runs a hair salon, had his motorcycle serviced by a mechanic on Saturday. Due to a problem with the engine, the mechanic replaced the piston. He reportedly advised Murali to keep the engine running all night.
Murali closed all the windows of the house and left the motorcycle running. While Murali and his wife, Revati, went to sleep on the terrace, his father, Ramachandraiah, their son, Karthik, and their twin daughters, Charita and Chandana, slept in the house.
The smoke from the motorcycle filled the house as all the doors and windows were closed.
Ramachandraiah (70), his twin granddaughters, Charita and Chandana, aged 8, and grandson, Karthik (15), were found dead on Sunday morning.
Murali and his wife escaped as they were sleeping on the terrace.
Police shifted the bodies for post-mortem examination. Preliminary investigation shows that they all died due to suffocation after inhaling carbon monoxide.
The incident shocked the residents in the town. Police registered a case and launched further investigation.
Meanwhile, two people died in a road accident in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
According to police, the accident occurred at BHPV Junction when a truck ran over vehicles that had stopped at the intersection. Two people died on the spot.
One of the deceased was Ramakrishna, who was on his way to Simhachalam with his daughter. The other deceased was identified as Santoshi.
A car and two motorcycles were damaged in the accident.
Police arrested the truck driver and launched an investigation.