Dharashiv (Maharashtra), November 9 (ANI): Six members of the same family, including two children and two elderly persons, died after a massive fire broke out at a house-cum-grocery store in Yedshi village of Maharashtra's Dharashiv district during the early hours of Sunday. One person was rescued safely.

The incident occurred around 2.30 am when the family members were asleep on the upper floor of the building. 

Dharashiv Superintendent of Police Ritu Khokar said six people died in the incident, adding that plastic items and oil cans stored in the grocery shop caused the fire to intensify rapidly.

"Six people died due to a fire in a grocery shop and the house above it around 2.30 am last night in Yedsi village within the limits of Dharashiv rural police station, which is a very unfortunate incident. Because there were a lot of plastic items and oil cans in the grocery store, the fire suddenly increased a lot," Khokar said.

Explaining the circumstances in which the victims died, she said, 'Out of the people of the house who were sleeping upstairs, four people died due to suffocation, and two people who were trying to rescue themselves below died due to the fire. There is only one young man in the family who is stable," she added.

According to the information available, the deceased belonged to the family of Govind Karande. The victims included two young children and two elderly persons.

Fire tenders from Tuljapur and Kalamb reached the spot after receiving information about the incident. Residents, police personnel and fire brigade teams worked to bring the blaze under control. (ANI)

Meanwhile, in Thane, a massive fire broke out across the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Raheja Garden residential complex in Thane, officials said here late Sunday night.

Upon receiving alerts, multiple fire tenders and rescue personnel rushed to the scene to extinguish the flames and evacuate residents.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde arrived at the spot to take stock of the situation and supervise emergency operations.

In a separate incident, a fire broke out on the 17th floor of a 32-storey high-rise building in the Lokhandwala area of Andheri West in Mumbai, civic and fire officials said on Sunday.

According to officials, fire tenders were rushed to the spot immediately after receiving information regarding the blaze.

Firefighters managed to douse the flames, and the fire has been completely brought under control. Cooling operations were subsequently undertaken. (ANI)