Four members of a family were found dead on Tuesday after a fire broke out in a building in Delhi’s Old Seemapuri area, police said.

The incident took place when the victims were asleep, police said, adding the victims died after inhaling smoke coming out from the fire.

According to Delhi Police, the fire broke out at the top floor of a three-storey building in Old Seemapuri area on Tuesday morning.

The deceased have been identified as Hori Lal (59), his wife Reena (55), their son Ashu (24) and daughter Rohini (18). The family members were sleeping on the third floor of the house, while their 22-year-old son Akshay had a narrow escape as he was sleeping on the second floor, police said.

Horilal was working as a peon in Shastri Bhawan, Delhi and was due to retire in March 2022. His wife worked as a sweeper in MCD. His daughter was a class 12 student at a government school while his son was unemployed, police said.

Akshay, the only surviving member of the family, works as a labourer in Safiabad. He had come home at around 2 am after work. He went to the third floor to get food and later slept on the second floor. He survived since the fire did not spread from the third floor of the building, police said.

Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials received a fire call at 4 am in the morning in Old Seemapuri, after which four fire tenders were rushed to the site. Four deaths were likely due to asphyxiation, DFS official said.

Domestic articles in a room on the third floor of the house caught fire, causing the death of four people. The victims were found dead on the spot. The building comprised ground plus three floors and was situated in an area of about 25 square yards, DFS officials said.

Police said the fire might have broken out and spread across the third floor of the building. The victims might have died due to inhaling smoke, but only the post-mortem report will be able to ascertain the exact cause of death, said police.

All the bodies have been shifted to Guru Teg Bahadur hospital mortuary for post-mortem. A case has been registered under IPC section 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) and 304A (causing death by negligence), police said.