e-Scooter explosion in Vellore kills father and daughter

A 49-year-old man and his minor daughter died due to suffocation after the e-scooter he bought a few days ago went up in flames at his home in Vellore in northern Tamil Nadu in the wee hours of Saturday.

The father and daughter were sleeping inside the house when the battery, which was plugged into a socket for charging, exploded at around 1 am. Soon, the house was engulfed with smoke, and they died due to suffocation.

M Duraivarma (49), and his daughter D Mohana Preethi, who was studying 8th standard, went to sleep at around 11 pm on Friday night after plugging the battery into a socket, whose low capacity is said to be the reason behind the explosion. They had parked the e-vehicle at the entrance of their house in Chinna Allapuram in Vellore.

Duraivarma, who was running a photo studio in Vellore, lost his wife nine years ago and was living with his son, while his daughter Preethi was studying in Polur in neighbouring Tiruvannamalai district by staying in a relative’s place. The trio had their dinner together on Friday night after which the son left for his aunt’s house to stay.

Police said Duraivarma bought the e-scooter a few days ago and he charged the battery using a socket from inside his house as he did not have any facility outside the house. They said a short circuit is suspected to be behind the explosion.

After neighbours found Duraivarma’s e-scooter in flames, they alerted the police after which firefighters were also called to douse the flame. The firefighters broke the main door and found Duraivarma and Preethi dead inside the house.

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