A 76-year-old man died after inhaling dense smoke following a fire in a residential building in Maharashtra's Thane district in the wee hours of Sunday, a police official said.
The blaze erupted due to a short-circuit around 2.30 am in the electric meter room of the building, located opposite Central police station in Ulhasnagar township, and two motorcycles parked near it also caught fire, he said.
As thick smoke engulfed the building, some of its residents tried to rush to the terrace, but it was locked.
The elderly man then ran down to get the keys from the security guard but collapsed due to the heavy smoke. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, the official said.
Local firefighters rushed to the spot and doused the flames after about an hour, he said.
The deceased, identified as Gopalkrishnan Nair, was a resident of the third floor of the building, the official said.
