Maharashtra: Six of family inhale generator fumes, die in sleep in Chandrapur

CHANDRAPUR: Six persons of one family died while one is battling for life after accidentally inhaling exhaust fumes from a generator in their sleep at Durgapur village, on the outskirts of Chandrapur city, on Monday night. The deceased include two kids and a newly married couple.
Sources at the scene informed that the Lashkare family, headed by contractor Ramesh Lashkare, lived in ward no. 3 of Durgapur. Being rainy season, power supply in the area was disrupted sometime in the night.
It is assumed, Ramesh Lashkare started the petrol-fueled electricity generator to get power supply, and the entire family comprising seven members slept peacefully. As the only door and all the windows in the house were closed, the exhaust gas comprising carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emitted by the generator accumulated in the house. All the family members suffocated due to the exhaust gas and six of them died in their sleep.
The matter came to light when none of the family members came out of the house till late in the morning. The neighbours tried to wake up the Lashkares but nobody responded from inside. Concerned neighbours broke the door open and were shocked to find the entire house filled with poisonous smoke from the generator exhaust.
All the family members were lying motionless where they slept. Alarmed neighbours immediately informed Durgapur police and PI Swapnil Dhule rushed to the spot with his team. Cops immediately moved all the family members to hospital, where six of them were declared brought dead.
The deceased include Ramesh Lashkare (45), his newly-wed son Ajay Lashkare (20), Ajay’s wife Madhuri Lashkare (20), Lakhan Lashkare (10), Krushna Lashkare (8) and Puja Lashkare (14). Ramesh’s wife Dasu (40) however survived the disaster and was admitted to a private hospital. However, she was later shifted to ICU in civil hospital at Chandrapur as her condition was critical.
Neighbours said that Ramesh Lashkare had got married just 10 days back and the newly-wed couple succumbed to poisonous gas in the incident. PI Dhule confirmed the six deaths and said that all of them appeared to have died of inhaling poisonous exhaust fumes emitted from the generator. “All the ventilations in the house were closed leading to accumulation of the gas,” he said.