Couple, 8-year-old son killed in Ahmedabad duplex fire

'We cannot rule out the possibility of suicide,' the divisional fire officer said

A couple and their eight-year-old son were killed in a fire that broke out in a bedroom of their duplex house in Ahmedabad on Monday morning, a fire official said. The victims were in the bedroom located on the first floor of the house when the blaze erupted at around 5 am, divisional fire officer Om Jadeja said.

"The cause of the fire is not yet clear and a forensic team has been engaged to ascertain it. We cannot rule out the possibility of suicide. It is also possible that the family was using fire to keep the room warm and got trapped when the blaze erupted," he said. "When the first response vehicle reached the site after receiving a call, some people were shouting for help. When the rescue team entered the building, they found three bodies lying near the bedroom door on the first floor of the duplex," the official said.

The victims possibly died of smoke inhalation. Some of the body parts were also found burnt, Jadeja said.

The deceased were identified as Jayesh Vaghela (40), his wife Hansaben (35) and their son Rohan. The bodies were sent to a government hospital for post-mortem, he said.

The firefighting team managed to control the blaze before it could spread to other parts of the house, the official said. An investigation is on into the incident, he said.